Economic Science and the Austrian Method_3

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Hans-Hermann Hoppefuture actions, because, in principle, future states ofknowledgecould never be predicted on the basis of constantlyoperating empirical causes. Obviousl~ such a delineation ofa branch of aposteriori and reconstructive science of actionfits the usual description of such disciplines as history andsociology; 67What is known to be true a priori regarding the field ofaction, and what would then have to constrain any historicalor sociological explanation is this: For one thing, any suchexplanation, which essentially would have to reconstruct anactor's knowledge, would invariably have to be a reconstructionin terms of knowledge of ends and means, of choicesand costs, of profits and losses and so on. And secondl~since these are evidently the categories of praxeology asconceived of by Mises, any such explanation must also beconstrained by the laws of praxeolog~And since these lawsare, as I have already explained, a priori laws, they must alsooperate as logical constraints on any future course ofaction.They are valid independent of any specific state of knowledgethat an actor might have acquired, simply by virtue ofthe fact that whatever this state might be, it must be describedin terms of action categories. And as referring toactions as such, the laws of praxeology must then be coextensivewith all the predictive knowledge there can be in thefield of the science of action. In fact, ignoring for themoment that the status of geometry as an a priori sciencewas ultimately grounded in our understanding ofaction andin so far praxeology would have to be regarded as the morefundamental cognitive discipline, the peculiar role of67On the logic of history and sociology as reconstructive disciplines see inaddition to the works of Mises mentioned at the outset of this chapter Hoppe,Kritik der kausalwissenschaftlichen Sozialforschung, chapter 2.The Ludwig von Mises Institute • 81
Economic Science and the Austrian Methodpraxeology proper within the entire system ofepistemologycan be understood as somewhat analogous to thatofgeometr~Praxeology is for the field of action what Euclideangeometry is for the field of observations (non-actions). Asthe geometry incorporated in our measuring instrumentsconstrains the spatial structure bf observational reali~ sopraxeology constrains the range of things that can possiblybe experienced in the field ofactions. 68IVIn so establishing the place ofpraxeology proper, I havecome full circle in outlining the system of rationalistphilosophy as ultimately grounded in the action axiom. Ithas been my goal here to reaffirm Mises's claim that economicsis praxeology; that the case for praxeology is anindisputable one; and that empiricist or historicist-hermeneuticistinterpretations of economics are self-contradictorydoctrines. And it has been my objective to indicatethat the Misesian insight into the nature ofpraxeology alsoprovides the very foundation on which traditional rationalistphilosophy' can be successfully reconstructed, and systematicallyintegrated.For the rationalist philosopher this would seem to implythat he should take account of praxeolog~For it is preciselythe insight into the praxeological constraints on the structureof knowledge which provides the missing link in hisintellectual defense against skepticism and relativism. For680n the categorical distinctiveness ofpraxeological theory and history andsociology and the logical constraints that praxeology imposes on historical andsociological research as well as on social and economic predictions see Mises,Human Action, pp. 51-59, 117-18; Hoppe, "In Defense ofExtreme Rationalism."82 • The Ludwig von Mises Institute
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PREFACEIt was a tragic day when eco
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Page 90 and 91: INDEXAlbert, H., 10Andreski, St., 5
Page 92: ABOUT THE AUTHORHans..Hermann Hoppe
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