Praxeology

Praxeology is the general theoretical science of human action. It is a formal, universally valid, science—built on the insights of Ludwig von Mises, namely that man is an individual with volition and that this power to choose must be taken as a fundamental starting point. Praxeology refers to the set of sciences that derive by logical inference exclusively from the axiom of human action. Once it is demonstrated that human action is a necessary capacity of human beings, praxeology, and its daughter sciences, such as economic theory and legal theory, spins out by verbal deduction the the logical implications of this concept. Praxeological laws are universal doctrines whose applicability is independent of any particular circumstances. Praxeology is a unifying framework that unites all types of human actions, and interactions.

Human beings possess a stable nature with certain definite, definable, and delimitable characteristics. Consciousness and free will are essential attributes of man’s nature; Man's Capacity to Reason is man’s absolute guide. One’s actions are caused by one's own volition which is a capacity of human nature. A human being can initiate and make choices about what he will do. Human action involves purposeful, intentional, and normative behavior. Mental focus is primary, and includes the direct willing of the person. Purposeful behavior thus takes place after a judgment or conceptualization has been made.

Praxeology as a methodology focuses on the formal implications of the fact that men employ means to attain various chosen ends, differentiating it from psychology and autistic ethics, which deal with the content of human ends. Thus, praxeology is a value-free science of means, rather than of ends, that describes but does not prescribe. It is a value-free tool for objective and critical appraisal. Praxeological science differentiates between the objective, universally valid conclusions of praxeology and the personal value judgments of the praxeologist. The credibility of economic science depends upon an impartial and dispassionate concern for truth. Value-freedom is a methodological device designed to separate and isolate an economist’s scientific work from the personal preferences of the given economic researcher. His goal is to maintain neutrality and objectivity with respect to the personally estimated values of others.

The province of praxeological economics is the logical analysis of the success or failure of selected means to attain ends. Means only have value because, and to the degree that, their ends are valued. The reasons why an individual values what he values and the determination of whether or not his choices and actions are morally good or bad are certainly significant concerns but they are not the realm of the praxeological economist. The content of moral or ultimate ends is not the domain of the economist qua economist. Knowledge gained from praxeological economics is both value-free (i.e., value neutral) and value-relevant. Value-free knowledge supplied by economic science is value-relevant when it supplies information for rational discussions, deliberations, and determinations of the morally good.

The causal-genetic method of praxeology developed via a process of introspection as part of a logical process based on deductive reasoning from inductively-derived concepts.

What is known (i.e., the object) is distinct from, and independent of, the knower (i.e., the subject). Knowledge is gained via various processes of integration and differentiation from perceptual data. For example, a person apprehends that he has a conscious mind by distinguishing between external objects and events and the workings of his mind. Self-awareness is thus attained when a person reflects upon what he has observed. Reality is what there is to be perceived. Reality exists independently of a man’s consciousness. It exists apart from the knower. It follows that empirical knowledge is acquired through observational experience of external reality. People can observe goal-directed actions from the outside. An individual attains an understanding of causality and other categories of action by observing the actions of others to reach goals. He also learns about causality by means of his own acting and his observation of the outcomes. Action is thus a man’s conscious adjustment to the state of the world.

Introspection is a reasonably reliable but ancillary source of evidence and knowledge with respect to what it means to be a rational, purposeful, volitional, and acting human being. Each person knows universally from introspection that he chooses. In other words, observation is introspective in the case of free will. Universal inner or reflective experience is an important adjunct to external, empirical, physical experience. ^[1]

The qualitative nature of praxeological analysis is also noteworthy. Unlike the quantitative focus of many scientific disciplines, this strict methodological approach is essential for studying human behavior, which is inherently complex and variable. The goal is to uncover the causal laws governing human action, and by extension, economic phenomena. Exact economic laws are established through a precise understanding of the way typical economizing individuals react to given situations. Once it is acknowledged that purposeful behavior is the typical behavior of economizing individuals, economists can logically derive theorems that will make up what Menger terms an exact and absolutely true theory.^[2] Theoretical research seeks to identify the simplest and strictly typical elements of everything real. The individual and his behavior are the most basic elements by means of which the praxeologist explains economic phenomena and derives universal laws. Praxeology is built on the basis of the idea that there are, in the realm of economic phenomena, indispensable structures to every action that are manifested in every economy. Economic universals involve economizing action on the part of individuals. These universals of economic reality are discovered through theoretical efforts and are not arbitrary creations of the economist.

The method of praxeology involves constructing imaginary constructs, or hypothetical scenarios, to isolate and analyze specific aspects of human action with inferential chains of propositions. These constructs are not intended to represent reality directly but to help deduce the logical consequences of certain actions. For example, Rothbard's use of the evenly rotating economy (ERE) abstracts from change and uncertainty to analyze interest income and the capitalist function. The evenly rotating economy is a hypothetical construct where all economic activities are in a constant state of equilibrium. In this scenario, there is no change; every day is exactly the same as the previous one. This means that all variables such as prices, production, and consumption are stable and predictable. These constructs serve as tools to better understand the complex causal relationships in the real economy. These economic universals exist only as instantiated in specific actions and institutuions. The goal of theoretical research is to discover the simplest elements of all things real which must be apprehended as strictly typical merely because they are the simplest. Of course, it is not an easy matter to discover those structures and to construct workable theories about them. There may be huge difficulties in gaining knowledge of essential structures and in converting such knowledge into the organized system of a strict theory.

Some common arguments against the fundamentals of praxeology:

1. "Praxeology is unscientific"
2. "Free will is fake"
3. "Animals can act too"
4. Flawed Alternatives to Praxeology in Studying Economics