Praxeology, axiom and empiricism

[Kjertesvein]

Praxeology, developed by Mises, as a theory of human action. Axiom, a self evident truth. empiricism, that which can be experienced, thus is regarded a true.


That is what i know - a formal definition, but it's not enough to say I master the words in every practical context.

1. Can someone explain to me the definition of an aksiom and praxeology?
2. Can someone explain to me, in layman's term, praxeology vs. empiricism? Bring about theoretical examples of human actions in a buying a TV in both. Whats the deal/argument?

I really can't be serious nor enjoy Mark Blaug's response to praxeology with "His writings on the foundations of economic science are so cranky and idiosyncratic that one can only wonder that they have been taken seriously by anyone."

~Wille

[Justice and Mercy]

"Praxeology" was Mises' misguided attempt to put economics into Kant's "analytic" realm.

Methodology and the Austrian School of economics is a very interesting subject. My favorite Austrian economist is actually Menger. He dealt almost exclusively with methodology, namely defending economics as a theoretical subject at all against the German Historical School.

Praxeology is the study of human action (not motivation... action, which I believe is also pretty misguided... but in economics it's something, as opposed to the mindless econometric approach... which is "validated" much in the same way the German Historicals "validated" their predictions) Mises' own praxeological opinion is as follows (though I want to quickly clarify that this opinion is NOT praxeology, but a particular take on it): All human action is purposeful action. It consists of choosing between several options that one thinks serves their own goals. As you might be able to see, this is closely related to the subjective theory of value, developed by Menger and perphaps the most influential aspect of Austrian economics. Mises himself notes, in "Human Action", that the formulating of the subjective theory of value was more than just a new way of looking at market prices, but a new way of looking at human action itself.

[Justice and Mercy]

Axiom, a self evident truth. empiricism, that which can be experienced, thus is regarded a true.

By the way, this is pretty much the opposite of Kantian theory. Kant had more of a Cartesian or Platonic view (though he disguised it quite well): It's actually "analytic" statements that are axiomatic. To Kant (and Mises) sense data is "synthetic" (the uncertain and NOT given... but the doubted). Thus, they are anti-empiricism.

Ayn Rand liked Mises, but recognized his epistemology as quite bad (she considered Kant "the most evil man in history.")

She took the opposite of the Cartesian approach. To her, it wasn't mind processes that are the given, but sense experience. She called it "prior certainty of existence."

Menger was better, Aristotelian, and this doesn't lend itself to the same kind of nonsense that being a Kantian would. Still, Mises' work on socialism is pretty invaluable.