Metatheory as the key to understanding: Schumpeter after Shionoya

Abstract

In his recent book, Yuichi Shionoya departs from previous Schumpeterian studies. He sets out to reconstruct Schumpeter's metatheoretical framework, which he argues is the key to a correct interpretation of his substantive writings. The centrepiece of this project is the thesis that Schumpeter has a coherent methodological position—instrumentalism—which consistently underpins his theoretical work. The present paper examines this thesis, and in so doing paves the way for an alternative hypothesis on Schumpeter. This hypothesis is based on Tony Lawson's work on the philosophy of economics.