CONTENTS
Preface = ⅹ
1 Introduction = 1
The 'abuse of reason' = 1
Political economy and the discovery of unintentional order = 2
The birth of sociology and intentional order = 4
The 'revolt against individualism' = 5
The alliance against the open Society = 6
2 Bernard de Mandeville and Adam Smith : the theory of the 'great society' = 9
Man, a social animal = 9
Needs and the division of labour = 11
Can a 'commercial society' survive? = 13
The advantage of Ego and the advantage of the Other : the 'invisible hand' = 15
A teleological development = 19
Mandeville : the service rendered by others is always a means = 21
Smith : the service rendered by others is always a means (on the principle of 'sympathy') = 24
'The Adam Smith problem' = 27
The consistency of Smith's theory = 30
Some conclusions = 31
3 Which method? A question about the philosophy of the social sciences = 41
Unintentional order and the individualistic method = 41
The 'individualistic' method makes clear the Social link = 43
The individualistic method and the errors of psychologism = 45
Auguste Comte : the Collectivistic method and the impossibility of the 'great society' = 48
Karl Marx : between politics and science = 52
4 Durkheim and the application of the collectivistic method = 57
Durkheim versus the 'great society' = 57
The state as independent variable = 60
Durkheim and political economy = 64
Is Society a 'sui generis' reality? = 67
Society is not a 'sui generis' reality = 71
Between positivism and idealism = 77
5 Is an 'individualistic' reading of Durkheim possible? = 83
The elements that justify an 'individualistic' reading of Durkheim = 83
Durkheim under the 'individualistic' lens = 85
Is it possible to reconcile Durkheim and Spencer? = 90
Is it possible to reconcile Durkheim and Simmel? = 95
6 Economists and sociologists compared : Carl Menger and Georg Simmel, Ludwig von Mises and Max Weber = 100
Carl Menger : methodological individualism and 'marginalistic revolution' = 100
The 'convergences' between Carl Menger and Georg Simmel = 106
Ludwig von Mises : the theory of action in the development of Austrian marginalism = 114
The 'convergence' between Max Weber and Ludwig von Mises = 118
Mises's criticism of Weber's quadripartition of meaningful action = 125
7 The early Parsons : between sociology and economics = 131
The 'death' of Spencer and the expulsion of Simmel = 131
The misunderstanding of the rational construction of preferences = 134
In search of the 'voluntaristic-creative' element = 140
The problem of the 'common system of ultimate ends' = 146
The 'sociologistic theorem' = 151
The missing solution = 157
Economic cost and social obligation = 163
8 Conclusions = 166
'Let us learn to be selves' = 166
Sociology and economics = 169
The task of the Social Sciences = 172
Notes = 174
References = 210
Index = 222
