Read, Just Now

“The scope of praxeology is the explanation of the category of human action.  All that is needed for the deduction of all praxeological theoroms is knowledge of the essence of human action.  It is a knowledge that is our own because we are men; no being of human descent that pathological conditions have not reduced to merely vegatative existence lacks it.  No special experience is needed in order to comprehend these theorems, and no experience, however rich, could disclose them to a being who did not know a priori what human action is.  The only way to a cognition of these theorems is logical analysis of our inherent knowledge of the category of action.  We must bethink ourselves and reflect upon the structure of human action.  Like logic and mathematics, praxeological knowledge is in us; it does not come from without.”

Ludwig von Mises, Human Action, A Treatise on Economics, Third Revised Edition, 1963 Chapter II. The Epistemological Problems of the Sciences of Human Action, 10 The Procedure of Economics, pg. 64

Posted by on 09/12 at 08:00 AM

  1. Atoms obey (are controlled by) the laws of Physics.
    The Moon is made of atoms and nothing else.
    The Moon obeys (is controlled by) The Laws of Physics.

    The scope of lunilogy is the explanation of the category of [lunar] action. All that is needed for the deduction of all lunilogical theoroms is knowledge of the essence of [lunar] action. It is a knowledge that is our own because we are [moons]; no being of [lunar] descent that pathological conditions have not reduced to merely vegatative existence lacks it. No special experience is needed in order to comprehend these theorems, and no experience, however rich, could disclose them to a being who did not know a priori what [lunar] action is. The only way to a cognition of these theorems is logical analysis of our inherent knowledge of the category of action. We must bethink ourselves and reflect upon the structure of [lunar] action. Like logic and mathematics, lunilogical knowledge is in us; it does not come from without.

    Posted by  on  09/16  at  07:55 AM

  2. Are you suggesting that moons are introspective, Serpent?  I can’t prove they’re not, of course, other than just saying it’s a silly idea to adopt barring any evidence for it.

    Posted by Andy Stedman  on  09/17  at  06:59 AM

  3. I’m just saying that the quote makes as much sense with my wording as it did with Von Mises original wording.

    Human action is either “random” (and meaningless), or it is not random (i.e. it’s determined(non-magical)). Everything else is just a distraction. 

    Posted by  on  09/17  at  07:59 AM

  4. No.

    "It is a knowledge that is our own because we are [moons];"

    makes far less sense than

    "It is a knowledge that is our own because we are men;”

    This is due to the fact that we are men, not moons.  If you are in fact a moon, though, I defer to your personal expertise in moonkind.

    Posted by Andy Stedman  on  09/17  at  08:08 AM

  5. The Moon is made of atoms and nothing else, consequentially the moon obeys the laws of physics.

    The same is true for you. 

    Posted by  on  09/17  at  08:41 AM

  6. I have never denied this, Serpent.  However, I still maintain that I think.  It would be ludicrous of me to maintain otherwise.

    Posted by Andy Stedman  on  09/17  at  09:42 AM

  7. Sure, Thinking is Processing or Cognition, or Computation, just like a computer (an algorithm executing its function).

    The algorithm perceives itself perceiving (observes itself observing) … in this moment it becomes “self-aware”.

    But that does not alter its inherent nature. That does not change it from what it is.

    Posted by  on  09/17  at  12:28 PM

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