Ludwig von Mises

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[[File:Ludwig von Mises.jpg|thumb|right|165px|Von Mises, pictured rolling around in his [[money]] bin.]]{{Economics}}
'''Ludwig von Mises''' {{lived|1881|1973}} is the patron saint of the [[Austrian school]] of economics, although not the actual founder of the school (that would be Carl Menger). He is revered as one of the chief [[god]]s of [[libertarianism]] for developing the Austrian method of praxeology, which he described as a 'general theory of human action.'<ref>http://mises.org/humanaction/introsec1.asp</ref> Mises has had an immense amount of influence on libertarian thought and was greatly admired by the likes of [[Friedrich August von Hayek|F.A. Hayek]], [[Milton Friedman]], [[Ayn Rand]], and [[Murray Rothbard]]. 

His brother {{wpl|Richard von Mises}} was a real [[scientist]] and doing actually [[philosophical]]ly important work in developing an early definition for randomness.

==''Human Action''==
Mises' greatest work is generally considered (among his followers, at least) to be the gargantuan doorstopper called ''Human Action'', which fully codifies the method of praxeology. Unfortunately for Mises, it was [[pseudoscientific]] upon arrival in 1949 and is even ''more'' pseudoscientific in light of current knowledge.

First, Mises completely rejects 
reality
 [[positivism]] and the [[scientific method]] in the [[social science]]s and humanities:
{{cquote|Praxeology is a theoretical and systematic, not a historical, science. Its scope is human action as such, irrespective of all environmental, accidental, and individual circumstances of the concrete acts. Its cognition is purely formal and general without reference to the material content and the particular features of the actual case. It aims at knowledge valid for all instances in which the conditions exactly correspond to those implied in its assumptions and inferences. Its statements and propositions are not derived from experience. They are, like those of logic and mathematics, a priori. They are not subject to verification or falsification on the ground of experience and facts. They are both logically and temporally antecedent to any comprehension of historical facts.<ref>''Human Action'', Ch. 2, p. 32.</ref>}}

He then proceeds to derive his immutable "laws" of economics from a single axiom, the "action axiom." Mises doesn't formulate it as simply as his followers like Rothbard, who usually state it simply as "humans act" or "Individual humans act with a purpose"; this is the essence of the axiom. Mises, however, distinguishes what he calls "action" from instinctual behavior. Action is defined as behavior that is done with some intention in mind, i.e. a goal-oriented one. While he admits the possibility of [[materialism|materialistic]] explanations, he argues that the assumptions of [[dualism]] and [[free will]] are necessary for a "science" of human action. Of course, besides the problem of deriving an entire system of [[faith]]-based economics from a single axiom, Mises runs into the problem of making a clear-cut distinction between "action" and "instinct" that doesn't exist in [[psychology]] and the [[Cognitive Science|cognitive sciences]] (indeed, he dismisses the whole of psychology, anthropology, etc. as merely "historical" and thus unable to make any predictions). Mises also claims this tautological axiom is ''irrefutable'', and thus a rock-solid basis for all economic theory. If you attempt to refute the claim that humans act, then you are, by definition, acting!

Another flaw in this system is that Von Mises never gave any clear definition of how new theorems are supposed to be proven by this axiom. Methods of [[mathematical]] logic that are axiom-like (like natural deduction or sequent calculus) were just being developed when he started, so it's understandable that he didn't mention them. This doesn't change the fact that in order to prove that this axiom implies any particular thing will require background knowledge, observations and other a posterori, challengeable things. So though in theory he developed his system from a single axiom, in practice he added new assumptions ''[[ad hoc]]'' and use the time honored method of [[Argument by assertion|Ipse Dixit]] to prove them.

Mises was naturally a staunch opponent of [[Marxism]] and he held that [[Karl Marx|Marx]] believed in a fundamentally different logical structure of the mind across different classes. In ''Human Action'', he accuses Marxism of "polylogism," i.e. that different [[Social class|classes]] use different sets of logic. Mises builds on Menger's notions of subjective value and marginal utility to define people as "economic calculators" (this largely a rehashing of the "economic calculation problem" argument Mises made in the 1920s). The knowledge of prices (which represent peoples' subjective value of goods) is distributed across all people (economic calculators) because value is subjective and thus different for each person. This economic calculation problem provides a philosophical argument against [[socialism]]; however, it doesn't make a socialist system logically impossible, e.g., it may just be highly inefficient. As ([[anarcho-capitalist]]) economist Bryan Caplan notes:

{{cquote|Ever since Mises, Austrians have overused the economic calculation argument. In the absence of detailed empirical evidence showing that this particular problem is the most important one, it is just another argument out of hundreds on the list of arguments against socialism. How do we know that the problem of work effort, or innovation, or the underground economy, or any number of other problems were not more important than the calculation problem?<ref>[http://econfaculty.gmu.edu/bcaplan/whyaust.htm Why I Am Not an Austrian Economist], Bryan Caplan</ref>}}

From here, Mises goes into how awesome completely ''[[laissez faire]]'' market policy is, [[gold standard (economics)|gold buggery]], and other typical Austrian hijinks. However, sane students of economics probably closed the book way back at the point when Mises declared his "theories" [[falsifiability|unfalsifiable]].

==''The Anti-Capitalistic Mentality''==
Generally considered Mises' worst work outside of Austrian circles (the contemporary review in ''[[The Economist]]'' opens with the words "This is a sad little book..."<ref>[http://www.webcitation.org/5fRAcAwrL Liberalism in Caricature], ''The Economist''</ref>), ''The Anti-Capitalistic Mentality'' represents his attempt to [[Psychoanalysis|psychoanalyze]] his opponents. The main thrust of the argument can be summarized in a few brief words: [[Capitalism]] is perfectly meritocratic, so if you disagree with him, you're just a [[free market]] hater who's jealous and butthurt about your station in life.

==Quotes==
{{cquote|You're all a bunch of socialists.<ref>[http://reason.com/archives/1995/06/01/best-of-both-worlds/4 Best of Both Worlds], ''Reason''.</ref>|||Mises on hearing a group of economists, including [[Friedrich Hayek]] and [[Milton Friedman]], debate the merits of a [[progressive income tax]].}}
{{cquote|You have the courage to tell the masses what no politician told them: [[Asshole|you are inferior and all the improvements in your conditions which you simply take for granted you owe to the effort of men who are better than you]].<ref>[http://mises.org/library/mises-and-rothbard-letters-ayn-rand Mises and Rothbard Letters to Ayn Rand]</ref>|||Mises in a letter to [[Ayn Rand]]}}
{{cquote|The liberal champions of equality under the law were fully aware of the fact that men are born unequal and that it is precisely their inequality that generates social cooperation and civilization. Equality under the law was in their opinion not designed to correct the inexorable facts of the universe and to make natural inequality disappear.<ref>''Human Action'', p. 841</ref>|||Mises on why the [[guillotine]] came into style}}
{{cquote|Nor is it any longer of greater significance that the political rights of women are restricted, that women are denied the vote and the right to hold office... The right to occupy public office is denied women less by the legal limitations of their rights than by the peculiarities of their sexual character.|||Mises on women's rights}}
{{cquote|My view is that ''Money and Credit'' is very readable -- compulsively readable, in fact: I have just spent two and a half hours telling myself "it's OK; I will just read one more page..." But it is only readable in a rhetorical-excess-train-wreck mode, for it is also totally bats -- insane.<ref>[http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2008/12/when-reactionar.html When Reactionary Goldbug Austrian Plumber-Economists Attack!] archived [https://web.archive.org/web/20101231031111/http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2008/12/when-reactionar.html archive.org]</ref>|||Brad DeLong (elipsis in original)}}

==See also==
*[[Ludwig von Mises Institute]]
*[[Austrian school]]
*[[Paleolibertarianism]]
*[[Neoliberalism]]


==External links==
*[http://mises.org/resources.aspx?Id=3250&html=1 ''Human Action''], a good cure for insomnia.
*[http://mises.org/literature.aspx?action=author&ID=280 Collection of Mises' works at the Mises Institute]
*Maurice Lagueux. [http://www.philo.umontreal.ca/documents/cahiers/lagueux_von_mises.pdf Von Mises' apriorism and Austrian economics: From Menger to Mises.] Presentation to the Annual European Conference on the History of Economics, Feb. 8-10 1996.
*[https://cdn.mises.org/Omnipotent%20Government%20The%20Rise%20of%20the%20Total%20State%20and%20Total%20War_3.pdf Omnipotent Government] Anti-fascist book that was virtually ignored by his students and opponents.
*[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mises_Caucus Mises Caucus] - Caucus within the Libertarian Party of the United States.

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

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