Two foundations for praxiology:

Kant and Wittgenstein

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30800/mises.2020.v8.1219

Keywords:

Ludwig von Mises, praxiology, methodology, apriorism, Kant, Wittgenstein

Abstract

Ludwig von Mises defended the controversial thesis that the economy is governed by a priori principles, against the positivist analysis of science (including economics). I intend, in this essay, to present a defense of Mises’s thesis. I begin by analyzing the influence of Kantian epistemology on Mises’s project and the improvements that Mises bequeathed to it. Given the objections to the Kantian position, on the basis of a Wittgensteinian critique of psychologism, I argue, based on a recent analysis by Roderick T. Long, that Mises’s project may actually be seen as an elaboration of Wittgenstein’s: the arguments for the conclusion that everything that counts as thought involves logical principles can be extended to show that everything that counts as action involves economic principles, an argument that would summarize Mises’s praxeology.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

References

BARROTTA, P. A Neo-Kantian Critique of Von Mises’s Epistemology. Economics and Philosophy, v. 12, n. 1, p. 51-66, 1996. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0266267100003710

BLAUG, M. The Methodology of Economics: Or, How Economists Explain. Cambridge: Cambridge University Pre, 1992. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511528224

FREGE, G. Os Fundamentos da Aritmética. Lisboa: INCM – Imprensa Nacional Casa da Moeda, 1992.

FREGE, G. The Frege Reader. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 1997.

HOPPE, H. H. Economic Science and the Austrian Method. Auburn: Ludwig Von Mises Institute, 2007.

KANT, I. Crítica da Razão Pura. Lisboa: Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, 2008.

KUSCH, M. Psychologism. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2007. Disponível em: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/psychologism/. Acesso em: 9 nov 2019.

LEESON, P. T.; BOETTKE, P. J. Was Mises Right? Review of Social Economy, v. 64, p. 247-265, 2006. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00346760600721163

LONG, R. T. Wittgenstein, Austrian Economics, and the Logic of Action: Praxeological Investigations. Abingdon: Routledge, 2005.

MISES, L. V. Ação Humana: Um Tratado sobre Economia. São Paulo: Instituto Ludwig von Mises Brasil, 2011.

MISES, L. V. A Mentalidade Anticapitalista. São Paulo: Instituto Ludwig von Mises Brasil, 2013.

MISES, L. Epistemological Problemas of Economics. Eastford: Martino Fine Books, 2014.

PRYCHITTO, D. L. Praxeology. In: BOETTKE, P. The Elgar Companion to Austrian Economics. Aldershot: Edward Elgar, 1994.

QUINE, W. Two Dogmas of Empiricism. The Philosophical Review, v. 60, n. 1, p. 20-43, 1951. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2181906

REY, G. The Analytic/Synthetic Distinction. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2003. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/analytic-synthetic/. Acesso em: 9 nov 2019.

ROHLF, M. Immanuel Kant. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Disponível em: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/kant/. Acesso em: 9 nov 2019.

SCHWARTZ, S. P. A Brief History of Analytic Philosophy: From Russell to Rawls. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012.

WITTGENSTEIN, L. Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. São Paulo: Universidade de São Paulo, 1968.

WITTGENSTEIN, L. Observações sobre os Fundamentos da Matemática. Campinas: Unicamp, (s/d).

YOUNKINS, E. W. Menger, Mises, Rand, and Beyond. The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies, v. 6, n. 2, p. 337-374, 2005.

Published

2019-11-29

How to Cite

1.
Silva JP. Two foundations for praxiology:: Kant and Wittgenstein. MisesJournal [Internet]. 2019 Nov. 29 [cited 2024 Mar. 29];8. Available from: https://www.misesjournal.org.br/misesjournal/article/view/1219

Issue

Section

Original Research Articles