This book is a comprehensive investigation of the work of Joseph Alois Schumpeter (1883–1950), one of the great economists of the twentieth century. In the first study of its kind, Yuichi Shionoya highlights Schumpeter's methodological views and emphasizes his ideal of a universal social science. Taking on board all aspects of his work, he reconstructs a system which encompasses theory (economic statics, economic dynamics, economic sociology) and metatheory (philosophy of science, history and sociology of science). The originality of Schumpeter's work - which the author calls the two-structure approach to the evolution of mind and society - is examined in the light of the intellectual field in Germany and Austria in the early twentieth century. A major contribution to the history of economic thought, this book will be the standard of Schumpeter scholarship for years to come.

List of figures; Preface; 1. Introduction; 2. Schumpeter and his surroundings: an overview; 3. The scope and methods of Schumpeter's research program; 4. The sociology of science and Schumpeter's ideology; 5. The economic methodology of instrumentalism; 6. Static economics as an exact science; 7. The theory of economic development as a midpoint; 8. A methodology of economic sociology; 9. Economic sociology as an evolutionary science; 10. The historical world of economics; 11. Value judgements and political economy; 12. Conclusion: Schumpeterian synthesis; Notes; List of references; Index.