Hayek misquotes and mistranslates Menger

06/09/2024 · By Dennis Hackethal · Fork · Check another quote

Original text

Hier ist es, wo uns das merkwürdige, vielleicht das merkwürdigste Problem der Socialwissenschaften entgegentritt: Wieso vermögen dem Gemeinwohl dienende und für dessen Entwickelung höchst bedeutsame Institutionen ohne einen auf ihre Begründung gerichteten Gemeinwillen zu entstehen?
Menger, Carl. Untersuchungen über die Methode der Socialwissenschaften, und der Politischen Oekonomie insbesondere. Leipzig, 1883: Duncker & Humblot. (163)

Quote text

Hier ist es wo uns das merkwürdige, vielleicht das merkwürdigste Problem der Sozialwissenschaften entgegentritt: Wieso vermögen dem Gemeinwohl dienende und für dessen Entwicklung höchst bedeutsame Institutionen ohne einen auf ihre Begründung gerichteten Gemeinwillen zu entstehen?
Hayek, Friedrich. The Counter-Revolution of Science: Studies on the Abuse of Reason. New York, 1964: The Free Press. (217, note 74)
Ellipsis used (if any): ‘[...]’
Found 8 issue(s) using regular expression . and Myers algorithm, underlined in wavy red. 
Hier‧ist‧es,‧wo‧uns‧das‧merkwürdige,‧vielleicht‧das‧merkwürdigste‧Problem‧der‧Soczialwissenschaften‧entgegentritt:↵‧Wieso‧vermögen‧dem‧Gemeinwohl‧dienende‧und‧für‧dessen‧Entwickelung‧höchst‧bedeutsame‧Institutionen‧ohne‧einen‧auf‧ihre‧Begründung‧gerichteten‧**Gemeinwillen**‧zu‧entstehen?

Explanation

# Part Valid? Explanation
1 
Hier‧ist‧es
2 
,
 × no Deletions must be indicated, eg by ‘[...]’ or [replacement].
3 
‧wo‧uns‧das‧merkwürdige,‧vielleicht‧das‧merkwürdigste‧Problem‧der‧So
4 
c
 × no Deletions must be indicated, eg by ‘[...]’ or [replacement].
5 
z
 × no Insertions must be surrounded by [brackets].
6 
ialwissenschaften‧entgegentritt:
7 
↵
 × no Deletions cannot contain linebreaks.
8 
‧
 × no A single added space must either follow or precede a valid insertion.
9 
Wieso‧vermögen‧dem‧Gemeinwohl‧dienende‧und‧für‧dessen‧Entwick
10 
e
 × no Deletions must be indicated, eg by ‘[...]’ or [replacement].
11 
lung‧höchst‧bedeutsame‧Institutionen‧ohne‧einen‧auf‧ihre‧Begründung‧gerichteten‧
12 
**
 × no Deletions must be indicated, eg by ‘[...]’ or [replacement].
13 
Gemeinwillen
14 
**
 × no Deletions must be indicated, eg by ‘[...]’ or [replacement].
15 
‧zu‧entstehen?

Notes

Hayek does not provide a full source – he merely writes “Untersuchungen, etc., p. 163”. I could not find a bibliography. Providing full source information is the quoter’s responsibility. My policy when the quoter provides insufficient information is simply to pick a source at my discretion and compare. Apart from formatting changes, Hayek introduces a grammatical mistake by omitting a comma. He also modernizes spelling without indication. Hayek translates (83) the passage he quotes into English: “[T]he question ‘how it is possible that institutions which serve the common welfare and are most important for its advancement can arise without a common will aiming at their creation’ is still ‘the significant, perhaps the most significant, problem of the social sciences.’” Unless German had changed since 1883, ‘merkwürdig’ does not mean ‘significant’ but ‘strange’ or ‘remarkable’. Arguably, the first part-quote should say ‘is it’ not “it is” to be true to the original. The second part-quote should end in an ellipsis (though some style guides, such as Chicago, IIRC, permit omitting the ellipsis at the end if the quoting sentence ends there), definitely not in a period (since the original ends in a colon). Thanks to Amaro Koberle for pointing out Bryan Caplan’s claim that Hayek was a “sloppy” quoter (he says at 8:31 that “Hayek was really sloppy.”).

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