Economic Science and the Austrian Method_3

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Hans-Hermann Hoppemakes them self-evident material axioms is the fact that noone can deny their validity without self-contradiction, becausein attempting to deny them one already presupposestheir validi~Mises points out that both requirements are fulfilled bywhat he terms the axiom ofaction, Le., the proposition thathumans act, that they display intentional behavior. 51 Obviousl~this axiom is not derived from observation-there areonly bodily movements to be observed but no such thing asactions-but stems instead from reflective understanding.And this understanding is indeed of a self-evident proposicion.For its truth cannot be denied, since the denial woulditselfhave to be categorized as an action. But is this not justplain trivial? And what has economics got to do with this?Ofcourse, it had previously been recognized that economicconcepts such as prices, costs, production, mone~ credit,etc., had something to do with the fact that there were actingpeople. But that all ofeconomics could be grounded in andreconstructed based on such a trivial proposition and ho~is certainly anything but clear. It is one of Mises's greatestachievements to have shown precisely this: that there areinsights implied in this psychologically speaking trivial axiomof action that were not themselves psychologicallyself-evident as well; and that it is these insights whichprovide the foundation for the theorems of economics astrue a priori synthetic propositions.It is certainly not psychologically evident that with everyaction an actor pursues a goal; and that whatever the goalmay be, the fact that it was pursued by an actor reveals thathe must have placed a relatively higher value on it than on anySIOn the following see in particular Mises, Human Action, chapter 4; MurrayN. Rothbard, Man, Economy, and State (Los Angeles: Nash, 1962), chapter 1.The Ludwig von Mises Institute • 61
Economic Science and the Austrian Methodother goal of action that he could think of at the start of hisaction. It is not evident that in order to achieve his mosthighly valued goal an actor must interfere or decide not tointerfere-which, of course, is also an intentional interference-atan earlier point in time in order to produce a laterresult; nor is it obvious that such interferences invariablyimply the employment of some scarce means-at least thoseof the actor's bod)!, its standing room, and the time absorbedby the action. Itis notself-evident that these means, then, mustalso have value for an actor-a value derived from that ofthegoal-because the actor must regard their employment asnecessary in order to effectively achieve the goal; and thatactions can only be performed sequentiall)T, always involvinga choice, i.e., taking up that one course ofaction which at somegiven time promises the most higWy valued results to the actorand excluding at the same time the pursual ofother, less higWyvalued goals. It is not automatically clear that as a consequenceof having to choose and give preference to one goal overanother-of not being able to realize all goals simultaneously-eachand every action implies the incurrence ofcosts,i.e., forsaking the value attached to the most highly rankingalternative goal that cannot be realized or whose realizationmust be deferred, because the means necessary to attain itare bound up in the production ofanother, even more highlyvalued goal. And lastl)!, it is not evident that at its startingpoint every goal of action must be considered worth moreto the actor than its cost and capable of yielding a profit,i.e., a result whose value is ranked higher than that of theforegone opportunit)T, and yet that every action is alsoinvariably threatened by the possibility of a loss if an actorfinds, in retrospect, that contrary to his expectations theactually achieved result in fact has a lower value than therelinquished alternative would have had.62 • The Ludwig von Mises Institute
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ECONOMIC SCIENCEAND THEAUSTRIAN MET
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All rights reserved. Written permis
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PREFACEIt was a tragic day when eco
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Economic Science and the Austrian M
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Page 90 and 91: INDEXAlbert, H., 10Andreski, St., 5
Page 92: ABOUT THE AUTHORHans..Hermann Hoppe
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Economic Science and the Austrian Method_3

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