Publications

Epistemological Problems of Economics

Type
Link
Cost
Paid
Published
1960
Updated
2013

Epistemological Problems of Economics features Ludwig von Mises’s views on the logical and epistemological properties of social interpretation, and the Austrian theory as the core element of a general theory of human behavior. This book contains a collection of essays from Carl Menger, Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk, and Max Weber, and the applications of value theory to human actions, guided by economic valuation. Ludwig von Mises states that the core intellectual errors of statism, socialism, protectionism, racism, irrationalism can be found in a revolt against economic logic and its special character, and examines a range of philosophical problems associated with economics.

Table of Contents
Chapter 1: The Task and Scope of the Science of Human Action
    I. The Nature and Development of the Social Sciences
        1. ORIGIN IN THE HISTORICAL AND NORMATIVE SCIENCES
        2. ECONOMICS
        3. THE PROGRAM OF SOCIOLOGY AND THE QUEST FOR HISTORICAL LAWS
        4. THE STANDPOINT OF HISTORICISM
        5. THE STANDPOINT OF EMPIRICISM
        6. THE LOGICAL CHARACTER OF THE UNIVERSALLY VALID SCIENCE OF HUMAN ACTION
        7. SOCIOLOGY AND ECONOMICS: SOME COMMENTS ON THE HISTORY OF econOMIC THOUGHT
    II. The Scope and Meaning of the System of A Priori Theorems
        1. THE BASIC CONCEPT OF ACTION AND ITS CATEGORIAL CONDITIONS
        2. A PRIORI THEORY AND EMPIRICAL CONFIRMATION
        3. THEORY AND THE FACTS OF EXPERIENCE
        4. THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN MEANS AND ENDS: THE “IRRATIONAL”
    III. Science and Value
        1. THE MEANING OF NEUTRALITY WITH REGARD TO VALUE JUDGMENTS
        2. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: ECONOMICS AND LIBERALISM
        3. THE UNIVERSALIST CRITIQUE OF METHODOLOGICAL INDIVIDUALISM
        4. THE EXPERIENCE OF A WHOLE AND SCIENTIFIC COGNITION
        5. THE ERRORS OF THE UNIVERSALIST DOCTRINE
        6. “OBJECTIVE” MEANING
    IV. Utilitarianism and Rationalism and the Theory of Action
        1. VIERKANDT’S INSTINCT SOCIOLOGY
        2. MYRDAL’S THEORY OF ATTITUDES
        3. THE CRITIQUE OF RATIONALISM BY ETHNOLOGY AND PREHISTORY
        4. INSTINCT SOCIOLOGY AND BEHAVIORISM
CHAPTER 2: Sociology and History
    Introduction
        1. THE METHODOLOGICAL AND THE LOGICAL PROBLEM
        2. THE LOGICAL CHARACTER OF HISTORY
        3. THE IDEAL TYPE AND SOCIOLOGICAL LAW
        4. THE BASIS OF THE MISCONCEPTIONS CONCERNING THE LOGICAL CHARACTER OF ECONOMICS
        5. HISTORY WITHOUT SOCIOLOGY
        6. UNIVERSAL HISTORY AND SOCIOLOGY
        7. SOCIOLOGICAL LAWS AND HISTORICAL LAWS
        8. QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS IN ECONOMICS
        9. THE UNIVERSAL VALIDITY OF SOCIOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE
    Conclusion
CHAPTER 3: Conception and Understanding
        1. COGNITION FROM WITHOUT AND COGNITION FROM WITHIN
        2. CONCEPTION AND UNDERSTANDING
        3. THE IRRATIONAL AS AN OBJECT OF COGNITION
        4. SOMBART’S CRITIQUE OF ECONOMICS
        5. LOGIC AND THE SOCIAL SCIENCES
CHAPTER 4: On the Development of the Subjective Theory of Value
        1. THE DELIMITATION OF THE “ECONOMIC”
        2. PREFERRING AS THE BASIC ELEMENT IN HUMAN CONDUCT
        3. EUDAEMONISM AND THE THEORY OF VALUE
        4. ECONOMICS AND PSYCHOLOGY
        5. ECONOMICS AND TECHNOLOGY
        6. MONETARY CALCULATION AND THE “ECONOMIC IN THE NARROWER SENSE”
        7. EXCHANGE RATIOS AND THE LIMITS OF MONETARY CALCULATION
        8. CHANGES IN THE DATA
        9. THE ROLE OF TIME IN THE ECONOMY
        10. “RESISTANCES”
        11. COSTS
CHAPTER 5: Remarks on the Fundamental Problem of the Subjective Theory of Value
CHAPTER 6: The Psychological Basis of the Opposition to Economic Theory
    Introduction
        1. THE PROBLEM
        2. THE HYPOTHESIS OF MARXISM AND THE SOCIOLOGY OF KNOWLEDGE
        3. THE ROLE OF RESENTMENT
        4. FREEDOM AND NECESSITY
    Conclusion
CHAPTER 7: The Controversy Over the Theory of Value1
CHAPTER 8: Inconvertible Capital
        1. THE INFLUENCE OF THE PAST ON PRODUCTION
        2. TRADE POLICY AND THE INFLUENCE OF THE PAST
        3. THE MALINVESTMENT OF CAPITAL
        4. THE ADAPTABILITY OF WORKERS
        5. THE ENTREPRENEUR’S VIEW OF MALINVESTMENT