Human Action: A Treatise on Economics

Volume II Contents

contents volume 1 Editor’s Note iii Foreword to the Fourth Edition v Foreword to the Third Edition vii Introduction 1 Economics and Praxeology 1 2 The Epistemological Problem of a General Theory of Human Action 4 3 Economic Theory and the Practice of Human Action 7 4 Résumé 10 part 1 Human Action 11 chapter 1 Acting Man 11 1 Purposeful Action and Animal Reaction 11 2 The Prerequisites of Human Action 13 On Happiness On Instincts and Impulses 3 Human Action as an Ultimate Given 17 4 Rationality and Irrationality; Subjectivism and Objectivity of Praxeological Research 19 5 Causality as a Requirement of Action 22 6 The Alter Ego 23 On the Serviceableness of Instincts The Absolute End Vegetative Man chapter 2 The Epistemological Problems of the Sciences of Human Action 30 1 Praxeology and History 30 2 The Formal and Aprioristic Character of Praxeology 32 The Alleged Logical Heterogeneity of Primitive Man 3 The A Priori and Reality 38 4 The Principle of Methodological Individualism 41 I and We 5 The Principle of Methodological Singularism 44 6 The Individual and Changing Features of Human Action 46 7 The Scope and the Specific Method of History 47 8 Conception and Understanding 51 Natural History and Human History 9 On Ideal Types 59 10 The Procedure of Economics 64 11 The Limitations on Praxeological Concepts 69 chapter 3 Economics and the Revolt Against Reason 72 1 The Revolt Against Reason 72 2 The Logical Aspect of Polylogism 75 3 The Praxeological Aspect of Polylogism 76 4 Racial Polylogism 84 5 Polylogism and Understanding 86 6 The Case for Reason 89 chapter 4 A First Analysis of the Category of Action 92 1 Ends and Means 92 2 The Scale of Value 94 3 The Scale of Needs 96 4 Action as an Exchange 97 chapter 5 Time 99 1 Time as a Praxeological Factor 99 2 Past, Present, and Future 100 3 The Economization of Time 101 4 The Temporal Relation Between Actions 102 chapter 6 Uncertainty 105 1 Uncertainty and Acting 105 2 The Meaning of Probability 106 3 Class Probability 107 4 Case Probability 110 5 Numerical Evaluation of Case Probability 113 6 Betting, Gambling, and Playing Games 115 7 Praxeological Prediction 117 chapter 7 Action Within the World 119 1 The Law of Marginal Utility 119 2 The Law of Returns 127 viii  contents 3 Human Labor as a Means 131 Immediately Gratifying Labor and Mediately Gratifying Labor The Creative Genius 4 Production 140 part 2 Action Within the Framework of Society 143 chapter 8 Human Society 143 1 Human Cooperation 143 2 A Critique of the Holistic and Metaphysical View of Society 145 Praxeology and Liberalism Liberalism and Religion 3 The Division of Labor 157 4 The Ricardian Law of Association 159 Current Errors Concerning the Law of Association 5 The Effects of the Division of Labor 164 6 The Individual Within Society 165 The Fable of the Mystic Communion 7 The Great Society 169 8 The Instinct of Aggression and Destruction 170 Current Misinterpretations of Modern Natural Science, Especially of Darwinism chapter 9 The Role of Ideas 177 1 Human Reason 177 2 World View and Ideology 178 The Fight Against Error 3 Might 187 Traditionalism as an Ideology 4 Meliorism and the Idea of Progress 191 chapter 10 Exchange Within Society 194 1 Autistic Exchange and Interpersonal Exchange 194 2 Contractual Bonds and Hegemonic Bonds 195 3 Calculative Action 198 part 3 Economic Calculation 200 chapter 11 Valuation Without Calculation 200 1 The Gradation of the Means 200 contents  ix 2 The Barter-Fiction of the Elementary Theory of Value and Prices 201 The Theory of Value and Socialism 3 The Problem of Economic Calculation 206 4 Economic Calculation and the Market 209 chapter 12 The Sphere of Economic Calculation 212 1 The Character of Monetary Entries 212 2 The Limits of Economic Calculation 214 3 The Changeability of Prices 217 4 Stabilization 219 5 The Root of the Stabilization Idea 223 chapter 13 Monetary Calculation as a Tool of Action 229 1 Monetary Calculation as a Method of Thinking 229 2 Economic Calculation and the Science of Human Action 231 volume 2 part 4 Catallactics or Economics of the Market Society 232 chapter 14 The Scope and Method of Catallactics 232 1 The Delimitation of Catallactic Problems 232 The Denial of Economics 2 The Method of Imaginary Constructions...