Kiichiro Yagi

Karl Knies, Austrians, and Max Weber: a Heidelberg connection?

Purpose – To establish the place of Karl Knies in the history of economics of the German-speaking academics. Design/methodology/approach – Kniess economics teaching is summarized on the basis of a students notebook of the course on general economics in Heidelberg, 1886. Kniess relation with two Austrian visitors, Friedrich Wieser and Eugen Bohm-Bawerk, is explored. Finally, Kniess influence on Max Weber and Webers difference from Knies is discussed. Findings – This paper provides the structure and the summary of Kniess lecture, illuminates his inability to grasp the significance of Austrian value theory, and shows the new position that Max Weber acquired by absorbing the Austrian theory into the framework of historicism. Research limitations/implications – The comparison of (possibly) remaining notes of Kniess lectures may reveal the development as well as the wide coverage of his teaching in Heidelberg. Kniess influence on Max Weber should be studied more in detail by an archival investigation of young Webers unpublished writings. Originality/value – The mild and synthetic feature of the real teaching of Knies, “the methodologist of the Historical School”, and the true distinction of the Austrian value theory from the “use value” theory of German economists are shown clearly. Thus, the relation between Historicists and Austrians is established from the viewpoint of the economic theory.