Gordon's book The Philosophical Origins of Austrian Economics (1992), which explores the philosophical origins of Carl Menger’s economic theories, was highly praised by Murray Rothbard.Murray Rothbard, " The Present State of Austrian Economics" , paper delivered October 9, 1992; reprinted in The Logic of Action One: Method, Money, and the Austrian School, Glos, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd., 1997, pp. 111–172. Rothbard writes: "For a brilliant and incisive discussion and demolition of the logical empiricist contention on many levels, see David Gordon, The Philosophical Origins of Austrian Economics." Writing in The Review of Austrian Economics, Barry Smith criticized the book for its over-simplistic division of philosophers into two camps—German (Hegelian, organicist and anti-science) and Austrian (Aristotelian, individualist and pro-science)—despite the philosophers having more complex interrelations. For instance Franz Brentano is exemplary of Austrian thought though he was born in Germany and was strongly influenced by German philosopher Friedrich Adolf Trendelenburg.Barry Smith "The philosophy of Austrian economics", Review of David Gordon’s The Philosophical Origins of Austrian Economics, The Review of Austrian Economics, Volume 7, Number 2, 127–132, Gordon later wrote an essay, "Second Thoughts on The Philosophical Origins of Austrian Economics," to provide some additions and corrections to his book.David Gordon, "Second thoughts on The Philosophical Origins of Austrian Economics", The Review of Austrian Economics, Vol. 7, No. 2.
