jbgotmar

142
More oxford books @ www.OxfordeBook.com
FROM NOVELIST TO PHILOSOPHER, 1944–1957
to persuasion: “I had the impression that von Mises had worked out
his system, knew how he related his economics to the altruist morality,
and that was that.” 24 Mises’s morality, however, did not ruin his entire
approach. Unlike Hayek, Mises held capitalism as an “absolute,” and
thus she considered him worthy of study and respect.
Nathan and Barbara were puzzled by Rand’s attitude toward Mises.
They had seen the critical comments she left in the margins of his
books, Human Action and Bureaucracy. “Good God!” she wrote angrily.
“Why, the damned fool!” Why then did she continue to court Mises and
recommend his books? Rare indeed was the person with whom Rand
disagreed yet continued to see on a social basis. Her willingness to carve
out an exception for Mises indicated the profound impact he had on
her thought. As she told one of Mises’s students, “I don’t agree with him
epistemologically but as far as my economics and political economy are
concerned, Ludwig von Mises is the most important thing that’s ever
happened me.” It was easy for Rand to appreciate Mises’s intellectual
orientation. He identifi ed reason as “man’s particular and characteristic
feature” and based his work on methodological individualism, the idea
that individuals should be the primary units of analysis. These premises
underlay his approach to economics, a fi eld about which Rand knew
little but considered critically important. 25
Mises had fi rst made his name with an attack on socialism. 26 In his
tome Socialism (fi rst published in English in 1935) he argued that prices,
which should be set by the free fl ow of market information, could never
be accurately calculated under socialism; therefore fatal distortions were
built into the very structure of a controlled economy, and collapse was
inevitable. This analysis matched Rand’s understanding of life under the
Soviets. She also found the idea insightful for what it suggested about
morality. In notes to herself she glossed Mises, writing, “Under altruism,
no moral calculations are possible.” 27 Mises’s vision of an economy centered
primarily on entrepreneurs rather than workers reinforced Rand’s
individualistic understanding of production and creativity.
Mises also provided economic support for Rand’s contention that
true capitalism had never been known, an idea she fi rst advanced in
the “Manifesto of Individualism” years earlier. Along with his exposition
of the calculation problem under socialism, Mises was known for
his argument against monopoly prices. According to Mises, in a truly
Fore more urdu books visit www.4Urdu.com