[Rezension zu Alberto Franz Labriola: Della tecnica e della forma sociale in rapporto alla azione economica]

Hermann von Schullern zu Schrattenhofen’s 1900 review examines Alberto Franz Labriola’s inaugural lecture as Privatdocent of political economy at Rome. He presents it as the opening of a research programme with few predecessors, singling out Emanuel Herrmann.

Labriola’s central problem is how the principle of economy in human action depends on existing social conditions and the state of technology. Schullern identifies the lecture’s structure as a statement of theses followed by their elaboration:

Das Wesen der Technik und ihre Bedeutung für die Volkswirtschaft hebt er auf Seite 16 hervor, um die dort aufgestellten Thesen in dem Reste des Vortrages näher zu erläutern.

English translation: He brings out the essence of technology and its significance for the national economy on page 16, in order to elucidate more closely, in the remainder of the lecture, the theses set up there.

The decisive conceptual move is from technology to the broader relations and conditions of production. Technology underlies every economic process in a qualified sense, but never constitutes its sole element. Understanding its economic significance therefore requires grasping its socially conditioned form and social effects. Schullern’s relevance judgment rests on this relational approach, though his brief review offers endorsement rather than detailed testing:

Es wird nicht verkannt werden dürfen, daß der Gedanke des Autors ein fruchtbarer ist und man wird seine späteren Forschungen mit Interesse erwarten.

English translation: It will not be possible to deny that the author's idea is a fruitful one, and one will await his later researches with interest.

The closing assessment treats the lecture’s contribution as a promising direction for further inquiry, not a completed explanation.