Free-market advocacy in the social sciences and in economics: The analysis of human behaviour between Vienna and Chicago

In recent debates, neoliberalism has been studied on the basis of changes in the implementation of policies, underlining the existence of different phases within it, which concern different historical moments. We argue that these distinctions coincided above all with different political and economic proposals which can be understood by analyzing the social-scientific methodology which supports them. The different approaches of Vienna and Chicago represent the most evident symbol within the debate about the scope of economics and the ways to understand human behavior. This chapter thus highlights the substantial differences in methodological standpoints of twentieth century free-market advocators.