Core Scientific Thought in Pareto’s Major Works

To employ the phrase ‘the Paretian school’, it is necessary, but not sufficient, to establish whether the fundamental work of Pareto has the unique attributes that enable it to be differentiated from other approaches to economics. Like all significant scholars, Pareto’s scientific work evolved, and consideration of core scientific thought must distinguish between differences in work as it evolved. For the purpose of this study, the evolution of Pareto’s scientific thought has been separated into three broad phases: the initial phase from 1890 to 1899, when Walrasian general equilibrium was enhanced and reorganised within a distinct and pluralistic Paretian methodological framework; the intermediate phase between 1900 and 1911, when elite theory was fully developed, choice theory was introduced and a methodological dualism1 in which the distinction between logical and non-logical action was arched over the pluralistic approach to science outlined in the initial phase; and the final phase between 1912 and 1923, when the general theory of social equilibrium was developed and the sociological part of the economic phenomenon was highlighted.