Austrian School of Economics in the history of economic thought: Its representatives, philosophies, theories, methodologies

Throughout human history, there have been radical and important changes in social, cultural and economic areas in the world. With the increase in population, people's desire to explore new places and their needs for shelter, clothing and food have increased, thus pushing people to research on how to use scarce resources in the best way. For these reasons, people have engaged in various economic activities, especially to meet their basic needs. In this regard, it is accepted that economic activities began with the emergence of the first human communities. The beginning of the history of economics dates back to civilizations such as antiquity, the Middle Ages, ancient Greece, Egypt and China. It has been accepted that the first civilizations did not contribute scientifically to the science of economics, but they were important in laying the foundations of economics through the economic activities of their period. History has been accepted as a field of study with an unknown beginning and end. Although it is accepted that the beginning of economic history is as old as human history, it has been stated that economic activities have been carried out since the beginning of human beings. In scientific terms, economics has been accepted as a new branch of science. The reason why the history of economics is newer than other branches of science is that his work titled 'The Wealth of Nations', written in 1776 by Adam Smith, the founder of the Classical School, is accepted as the first economics book in which economics is discussed scientifically and its framework is drawn comprehensively. Social developments and changes have also caused these changes in the economic structure. Economic developments have led to the emergence of different ideas in this field. In this direction, it has enabled the emergence of new schools of thought in the history of economic thought. Economists' search for solutions to the economic problems that emerged in their time, the theories they developed and the methods they used differed, causing schools of thought to put forward different views. The biggest factor that has caused the foundations of economic schools, which have a wide range of research and examination areas today, to be as old as human history, is that human beings have been intertwined with the economy since the moment of their existence. Throughout the historical process, there have been developments in terms of economic thoughts and different evaluations have emerged. Thinkers who put forward new economic ideas, influenced by the thought structures of the previous period, also created new economic schools in this direction. The emerging schools of economics have made significant contributions to the history of economic thought. One of the schools of economics was the Austrian School of Economics. The Austrian School of Economics was founded by Carl Menger, who is considered the economist of the period. The Austrian School of Economics was founded as a result of the methodological debate that started between Carl Menger when he criticized the theories of the classical economics school and Menger's criticisms were not accepted and opposed by the German Historical School. The Austrian School of Economics has placed the science of economics on a more solid foundation with the important contributions they made in intellectual, philosophical, theoretical and methodological terms. The Austrian School of Economics, which played a leading role in the establishment of the marginalist revolution, contributed to the history of economic thought with its important representatives and principles. In his master's thesis titled "Austrian School of Economics in the History of Economic Thought: Representatives, Philosophies, Theories, Methodologies", the development of economics in the history of economic thought was discussed and the school's contributions to the history of economic thought were evaluated within the framework of the important representatives and principles of the school. The study was completed with the conclusion section and brought into the field of economics. Keywords: Economics, Economic History, Economic Thought, Antiquity, Middle Ages, Mercantilism, Physiocracy, Classical School, Neo-classical School, Austrian School.