Wilhelm Georg Friedrich Roscher (; 21 October 18174 June 1894) was a German

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this field there ar ...

from

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German States of Germany, state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germa ...

Biography

Roscher studied at

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the capital of the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, the population was 118,911. General information The ori ...

, where he became a member of Corps Hannovera, and

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constit ...

, and obtained a professorship at Göttingen in 1844 and subsequently at

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

in 1848. The main origins of the

historical school of political economy The historical school of economics was an approach to academic economics and to public administration that emerged in the 19th century in Germany, and held sway there until well into the 20th century. The professors involved compiled massive eco ...

may be traced to Roscher. Its fundamental principles are dated to his ''Grundriss zu Vorlesungen über die Staatswirtschaft nach geschichtlicher Methode'' (1843). Politically, Roscher remained faithful to the

liberalism Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for ...

of Friedrich Christoph Dahlmann, which abjured revolution and anarchy but favored reform within the context of a constitutional monarchy. Historical economics began as a means of adjusting liberal thought and practice to the realities of the social question, namely: what should be done about the consequences of economic modernization and the classes displaced or exploited by the new industries. Roscher tried to establish the laws of economic development by using the

historical method Historical method is the collection of techniques and guidelines that historians use to research and write histories of the past. Secondary sources, primary sources and material evidence such as that derived from archaeology may all be drawn o ...

from the investigation of histories legal, political, cultural and other aspects. Roscher developed a cyclical theory where nations and their economies pass through youth, manhood and senile decay: "The method of a science is of greater significance by far than any single discovery, however amazing the later may be." This was in direct contrast to the English traditional economist who believed that the principles of a science were only exposed long after they had performed their duties. This short study was afterwards expanded into his great ''System der Volkswirthschaft'', published in five volumes between 1854 and 1894, and arranged as follows: * vol. i., ''Die Grundlagen der National Ökonomie'', 1854 (trans. by JJ Lalor, ''Principles of Political Economy'', Chicago, 1878)
Volume OneVolume Two
* vol. ii., ''Die Nationalökonomik des Ackerbaues und der verwandten Urproduktionen'', 1859 * vol. iii., ''Die Nationalökonomik des Handels und Gewerbfleisses'', 1881 * vol. iv., ''System der Finanzwissenschaft'', 1886 * vol. v., ''System der Armenpflege und Armenpolitik'', 1894 His ''Geschichte der Nationalökonomie in Deutschland'' (1874) is a monumental work. He also published in 1842 an excellent commentary on the life and works of

Thucydides Thucydides (; grc, , }; BC) was an Athenian historian and general. His ''History of the Peloponnesian War'' recounts the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been dubbed the father of "scientif ...

. In 1847 he was the first to use the term "

enlightened absolutism Enlightened absolutism (also called enlightened despotism) refers to the conduct and policies of European absolute monarchs during the 18th and early 19th centuries who were influenced by the ideas of the Enlightenment, espousing them to enhanc ...

" about the type of absolute monarchy influenced by contemporary philosophy that evolved in the 18th century.A. Lentin (ed.), ''Enlightened Absolutism (1760–1790)'', Avero, 1985, p. ix. In 1857 his ''Zur Geschichte der Englischen Volkswirthschaftslehre im sechzehnten und siebzehnten Jahrhundert'' (On the History of English Political Economy in the 16th and 17th Century) was published.Roscher 1857: , , . In 1870, he was elected a foreign member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences ( sv, Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien) is one of the royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special responsibility for prom ...

. Roscher died in 1894 in

. The classical scholar

Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher (12 February 1845, in Göttingen – 9 March 1923, in Dresden) was a German classical scholar. He specialized in studies of Greek and Roman mythology. He received his education at the Universities of Göttingen and Leip ...

(1845–1923) was his son.

Notes

References

* Theodor Roscher, ''Zur Geschichte der Familie Roscher in Niedersachsen'' (Hanover, 1892) * Moritz Brasch, ''Wilhelm Roscher und die sozialwissenschaftlichen Strömungen der Gegenwart'' (Leipzig, 1895). *

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Roscher, Wilhelm Georg Friedrich 1817 births 1894 deaths German economists Writers from Hanover People from the Kingdom of Hanover University of Göttingen alumni University of Göttingen faculty Humboldt University of Berlin alumni Leipzig University faculty Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Historical school economists Regional economists