Schütz on Objectivity and Spontaneous Orders

Abstract

Although Schutz's relationship with the Austrian school of economics was an intimate one, Lavoie and other Austrian scholars have challenged (a) Schutz's characterization of praxeology as an objective science of subjective phenomena and (b) the ability of Schutz's phenomenology, which emphasizes the subjective meaning of actors, to really make sense of spontaneous social orders. It is my contention, however, that Schutz can be adequately defended against both these charges. First, for Schutz, the claim that social science is an objective science of subjective phenomena need not imply apodictic apriorism nor solipsism. Second, in spite of his emphasis on subjective meanings, the study of spontaneous social orders need not be difficult to to justify.