The Science of Human Action | Hans-Hermann Hoppe

[lovelplants]

ayusa oi.. magscientist nalang ko ani..

[AllOtherNamesTaken2]

I don't think any empiricist has ever said that you can't extrapolate knowledge of a thing that can't be directly perceived, just so long as perception is the starting point. Otherwise scientists wouldn't be able to talk about gravity.

I'm not even going to watch the rest of the video. This guy is arguing against a straw man.

All physical scientists are empiricists by definition. You got a lot of work ahead of you proving that science is wrong, and this guy isn't even on the right track.

[FreeThinkism]

@AllOtherNamesTaken2 That is not what he is arguing at all. But nice try.

[NamekianPrince]

@AllOtherNamesTaken2 Empiricists emphasize testing hypotheses in their search for truth. However in economics and human life no events are ever repeatable because we live in a three-dimensional world traveling forward through space-time. Therefore, anything that happens can never be exactly repeated. Empirical science procedures work for inanimate objects because they share the same exact properties and they can manipulate single variables which is impossible in the study of human behavior

[AllOtherNamesTaken2]

Philosophy != science

All philosophy requires an arbitrary starting point. Having an unjustifiable premise as the base of empiricism is no more a point against empiricism than it is against rationalism.

Knowledge is gained through introspection? Is he saying that I could gain knowledge of green trees through introspection without ever having seen a green tree?

[NamekianPrince]

@AllOtherNamesTaken2 He states very clearly in the video that almost all knowledge is gained through the senses. However, some knowledge must have to be formed without the use of sense, and although the amount of knowledge gained through introspection alone is tiny, it still exists. Because no event in history is repeatable economics can't be empirical because if it were that would mean that for any hypotheses to be accepted after an experiment it must be repeatable which is impossible.

[senselessbattery]

While "Kan't" is appropriate pronunciation I like Hoppe's pronunciation too: "Kunt"!

[JohnRater]

hans 'homosexual' herman hoppe is a fucking homophobe

[JohnRater]

@JohnRater really he pisses me the fuck off with this anarcho monarchism gay bullshit just shut the fuck up already hoppe

[truevoice08]

@JohnRater A man of his cultural background is probably predisposed against personal associating with homosexuals, but using homosexuals as an example to elaborate on the concept of time preference does not make one a homophobe.

[ecnerwal999]

LIBERTARIANMONARCHY . COM

[Moragauth]

@Deryntia What's been denounced specifically?

[Moragauth]

@Deryntia How much shit can you pack into one comment? What -are- you on about?

"Sovereignty is a disciplinary practice of authoritarian regimes"

Ugh, what?

[CliveYouBeauty]

Thanks, exceptional

[fluff125]

Incredibly boring

[Moragauth]

@fluff125 Your comment is, yes.

[richardcadbury]

hoppe's anarchistic writings are fuzzy as hell

[Moragauth]

@richardcadbury Meaning?

[ostralopithicus]

I'm an Austrian, but I disagree with Hoppe's claim. The Logical Positivists (which he attacks in another video) do view rational apriori thought as knowledge. I think Hoppe has a major bias towards science and frankly he's knowledge of the topic is very weak. I do respect his views on economic topics, but he's a second rate philosopher and that's me being generous.

[ostralopithicus]

In fact, Rudolf Carnap, one of the early Logical Positivists, laid the foundation of modern symbolic logic. . .clearly because he disagreed that such had any value as knowledge . .. lol.

[MIT2004]

I don't like the way this guy talks. I don't like him readingh off a script

[dhebert111]

@escapeout I researched Peter Schiff a bit today and watched a few of his lectures. The guy speaks the truth and I can`t understand why, other than pure greed by a few, that the Austrian School is not the preeminent economic model in the world. Schiffs father has very valid points as far as taxation is concerned, and should be released right away.

What we are doing now as a society is shameful. The way I think about the economy will never be the same after today, unbeleivable.

[greenbean1984]

come on boys, what the fuck is this?

[Moragauth]

@greenbean1984 You tell us.

[dhebert111]

@AUSM92 Thankyou, I will try, this is relatively new to me.

[batmanthe]

Hayek was a very smart man with a lot of interesting insights but Hayek is fail compared to Mises , Hoppe and Rothbard in many ways.. I suspect that's exactly why he has gotten more attention by the mainstream. Because he seemed less ideologically driven. Really it was as Hoppe says, Hayek was "muddled and confused".

[Conza88]

3-4 days.. dang..

[heckler73]

But you see, Black is not Yellow, and Grey is not polka dots.

But in fact, as some philosophers have noted, not all Mises videos are saying anything at all. Ontology. We are actors, having to act in an external world. Stones don't act. Stones don't need to know anything, but we do.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Inspired by the first 22:18 of the vid. #LOL

[sharperguy]

I like Mises' way of explaining it actually. He basically said that reason can simply allow you to know all of the potentially complex connotations of things you already know to be true.

[032125]

YouTube tells me: TUNE IN: Watch Jane's Addiction perform live at 9pm ET/6pm PT.

I think not. There are plenty better things to do on YouTube, like learning from Hoppe, my favorite free thinker. Let the sheep go back to sleep, we will keep learning.

[prashantpawar]

Check out praxgirl's lectures on praxeology guys.

[modelmark]

isn't every statement on humans preceded by the empirical observation of the existence of humans. What you get without a full suitcase of experience, are the utterances of a baby. Every man that holds speeches can only do so because of a wealth of experiences and empirical evidence.

[Panpiper]

@modelmark The key word is not observation or evidence, but rather 'empirical'. All of us have observations and evidence and all of us can indeed make speeches (at least in theory). But Empiricism holds that a theory must be disprovable by experiment in order to be valid, and equally, that all theories are necessarily false as they inevitably will be refined by future testing. This flies in the face of the simple logic that the theory that a thing cannot both be and not be, need not be tested.

[modelmark]

@Panpiper if that is the definition of Empiricism, it indeed seems false. Thanks for the explanation.

[Moragauth]

@Panpiper To be fair, positivism holds that. Older forms of empiricism like Aristotle's or St Thomas's or even Rand's can incorporate a priori knowledge.

[Moragauth]

@modelmark Most a priori knowledge can also be justified empirically. It doesn't change the fact that it's justifiable a priori.

[NeoLockeanLunatic]

Mises was indeed ze man!

[BachGuitar3]

WOW! Human Action was the 1st book you read by Mises.

This is one of greatest lectures I have heard. This clarifies so many ideas that I have learned in school.

Hoppe You ROCK!

[meisterbrew82]

@BachGuitar3 the only problem is Hoppe has a great distaste for Rock music :p

[god0fgod]

Near the end when he was talking about needing to asume an ethical stance to prove or disprove an economic argument is true. For example if your ethics is that you like a small elite class to be rich while other classes are poor, then fascism is consistent with that. Ethics is subjective but if your ethics are for peace freedom and prosperity then Austrian economics is consistent with it.

[93msinclair]

@god0fgod I would argue that having a small elite group ruling the masses is not ethics at all. A system of ethis must be universal. In ethics, we simply speak about whether something is right of wrong, without specifying individuals, because the principle must apply to everyone. In that sense, ethics itself is not subjective, but rather a person's preference for accepting ethics is subjective. Just as one's preference for accepting science is subjective, but science itself is not subjective.

[god0fgod]

@93msinclair Okay, what about the universal idea of "all-against-all" as an example?

[Moragauth]

@god0fgod Based on the pure universalisation test it would pass I think, but it does little to justify government which is of necessity predicated on a disparity between ruled and rulers, even in its communist forms.

[god0fgod]

@Moragauth It does show that making economic arguments requires certain premisses. Though, you'd expect most people to follow the premises which should lead to following Austrian economics.

These premises people follow may not have to be universally valid. Someone may follow a beliefs and values which does not follow a Kantian universalisation test. While the universalisation test is may be good for finding principles which you can apply to a society equally it doesn't mean people will follow.

[Moragauth]

@god0fgod Economic arguments are value-free. I think you mean a pure free market order.

[93msinclair]

@god0fgod It depends on what that entails. Certain behaviours can never be universal such as theft or murder, since they impose an implicit double standard between the perpetrator and the subject. A thief takes property with the intention of keeping his property, and a murderer takes lives with the intention of living. Hence these are examples of non-universal behaviours which can never be part of a system of ethics.

[god0fgod]

@93msinclair If ethics must be universal. Yet the "all-against-all" may include acceptance of being killed.

[93msinclair]

@god0fgod I don't know what behaviours "all-against-all" entails. If it includes theft and murder then it is not universal.

[dhebert111]

I`m not an acedemic.  Is this the type of economic philosophy Ron Paul is perscribing?

[god0fgod]

@dhebert111 Yes.

[lb11rb]

@dhebert111 yes, but Ron Paul isn't an anarchist, like Hoppe and Rothbard, but a minarchist in the tradition of Mises. Some would argue that the Misesian (perhaps even Hoppe) definition of government is also anarchistic.

[hennypenny247]

@dhebert111

Yes. It's the Austrian school of economic thought, the oldest continuous school in the world, the ideas of Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich Hayek. Virtually all of the economists who predicted the financial meltdown (notably Peter Schiff) have been Austrian school.

[dhebert111]

@hennypenny247 From the small amount of knowlege I have gained from these Mises lectures, it just seems that this school of thought is more ethical, as far as my definition of ethics is concerned.

[zutroy1]

@dhebert111 Yes, this is similar although to be fair I would suggest that Hoppe is talking more academically, and that while Ron Paul speaks very well when it comes to the philosophy of governance, he is much more centrist and limited in the application because he understands that this school of thought is still a minority.

[CKniz1]

@dhebert111 Yes, Ron Paul is an avowed Austrian economist. He is also strongly linked to the Mises Institute. I believe he has a formal position in LVMI, but I'm not sure if he's a fellow, member, or what. Lew Rockwell used to be on his congressional staff.

[dhebert111]

@CKniz1 I became aware of that recently, Dr. Paul could really be in a position to make revolutionary change, and help the USA, in turn help the whole world if you really think about it. We are in the midst of a rare occasion in history in which we might see a new era started, in therory it would be a more ethical one.

[hennypenny247]

@dhebert111

Yes. Peter Schiff was Ron Paul's economic advisor in 2008. He predicted the housing bubble collapse and meltdown and now warns of a dollar collapse. Ron Paul is a hero to most or all of the Austrian economists, who follow the teachings of Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich Hayek: free markets without government interference; private property rights; sound money preferably tied to gold; acknowledging you can't predict future with certainty b/c it depends on human action and choices.

[dhebert111]

@hennypenny247 I`ll have to admit, I have very little training in business, nothing compared to what most have in this feild. I remember totally disagreeing with GDP calculations in Financial Accounting, always argueing with the professor about dividend yeild, and such fairytales. I was an austrian ecomomist at heart, and have only realized it 15 years later, better late than never.

[mjhonsun]

@dhebert111 Ron Paul, like Hoppe, promotes Austrian economics but he is not an "anarchist" or a proponent of a private law society. He is more of a libertarian in the classical liberal sense, which is to say much like the conservative "Old Right" Republicans. He often describes himself as a Constitutionalist, upholding a strict, constructionist interpretation of the Constitution.

[Conza88]

@mjhonsun - Wrong. Do your research.