Interwar neoliberals broke with laissez-faire empiricism to build a conventionalist science of liberalism

Evidence

Since its inception, the problem space shared by neoliberals has been spread out on a modernist canvas, one which contrasted sharply with conservatives, reactionaries and old-fashioned liberals. During the inter-war period, self-proclaimed neoliberals dismantled and recoded the unpopular laissez-faire liberalism with epistemological ideas adapted from the “new scientific spirit” of the early twentieth century. Breaking with naturalism and empiricism, they espoused a research program inspired by mathematical and physical conventionalism, one that balanced a skeptical epistemology with a commitment to scientific progress and objectivity. To this end, methodological rules were pivotal to the reconstruction of a genuine science of liberalism which had fallen into disrepute. This agenda aimed at regaining the political ground lost to ‘collectivism’ in the twentieth century by tackling two sets of problems left aside by ‘classical’ liberals: the positive role of the state and the social question. — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 52

Categorization

• DEFINE: Distinguishes early neoliberalism’s epistemology (conventionalism, anti-naturalism) from both classical liberalism and conservatism — precisely the definitional ground the caricature erases.
• XREF: Connects to other readings on the neoliberal ‘thought collective’ and Mont Pelerin origins; the conventionalist epistemology distinguishes German/Austrian strands from later Chicago orthodoxy. — connects to: Neoliberalism broke sharply with prewar classical liberalism rather than continuing it — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 778; Interwar liberal revivalists saw laissez-faire itself as a dogmatic mystique — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion: Reinventing Free…, 177; Early neoliberalism emerged partly from a critique of laissez-faire and naturalist philosophies of history — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 379 (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• Neoliberalism’s critique of rival ideologies drew on epistemological conventionalism #corroborates (0.90) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 62
• Early neoliberalism emerged partly from a critique of laissez-faire and naturalist philosophies of history #corroborates (0.85) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 379
• Neoliberalism broke sharply with prewar classical liberalism rather than continuing it #expands (0.82) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 778
• Neoliberals conceded that liberalism itself is a socially constructed ideology rather than pure science #expands (0.80) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 85
• Early neoliberals explicitly distanced themselves from classical laissez-faire doctrine #corroborates (0.80) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 117
• Interwar liberal revivalists saw laissez-faire itself as a dogmatic mystique #corroborates (0.78) — Angus Burgin, The Great Persuasion, 177
• The term ‘neoliberal’ was adopted deliberately to distance liberalism from pure laissez-faire #corroborates (0.75) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 279