historical school

American  

noun

1. a school of economists that arose in Germany in the 19th century in reaction to the principles of the classical economists, and that maintained that the factors making up an economy are variable and develop out of social institutions.

2. Law. the school of jurists who maintain that law is not to be regarded so much as resulting from commands of sovereigns as from historical and social circumstances.

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historical school British  

noun

1. a group of 19th-century German economists who maintained that modern economies evolved from historical institutions

2. the school of jurists maintaining that laws are based on social and historical circumstances rather than made by a sovereign power

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Etymology

Origin of historical school

First recorded in 1890–95

Example Sentences

At Cambridge his influence at once made itself felt, especially in the reorganization of the historical school.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 6 "Coucy-le-Château" to "Crocodile" by Various

Instead of pursuing a pure abstraction, this historical school has confined itself to the knowledge of the life of man and the evolution of society.

From Principles Of Political Economy by Lalor, John J. (John Joseph)

This assumption, however, has been made quite impossible, not by the historical school, but by the criticism and analysis of economists in the direct line of the Ricardian succession.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 10 "Echinoderma" to "Edward" by Various

The historical school was a playground of traps and pitfalls.

From The Education of Henry Adams by Adams, Henry

The historical school sometimes call their method the realistic and ethical method, to distinguish it from what they are pleased to term the idealistic, and selfish or materialistic method of the earlier economists.

From Contemporary Socialism by Rae, John