This entry was posted on 4/20/2009 10:31 AM and is filed under uncategorized.
According to Ludwig Von Mises, Human Action is
axiomatic.“Action is the essence of
[man’s] nature and existence, his means of preserving his life and raising
himself above the level of animals and plants.”In short, humans act.We act to
satisfy our desires and our desires are what drive us.There is no existence for us without
acting.Obviously we act for basic
functions, food, sleep, survival.Further, we act on needs and desires beyond those of survival.Cheese puffs and jazz are not necessary for
survival, but we may pursue them just the same.Why?Because we have desires and
we have a methodology for meeting them: action.But, because we can satisfy many of our desires, is it logical to do so?It could be argued that a diet of nothing but
cheese puffs and jazz at dangerously loud levels is illogical as that wouldn’t
be healthy.But Mises further says that
“Human action is always rational…when applied to the ultimate ends of action,
the terms rational and irrational are inappropriate and meaningless.”We eat the junk food and turn up the stereo
because that is what we want and because we can.If we know the consequences beforehand and do
it anyway we are acting rationally, because we are using the means available to
acquire the end we want and are obviously accepting of the risk of weight gain
and loss of hearing.If we don’t know the
consequences beforehand we are acting rationally for the same reason and are
ignorant of the risks.
Human action is simply the means one uses to reach a desired
end.Rational or irrational are value
judgments made by an outside agent.The
particular action chosen may not be the most appropriate or expedient for
attaining the end sought, but it is the action itself that is important.Action as a means to a given end is only
rational.We humans have the ability to
control our environment.We are not
victims unless we chose to be, and it is choice that empowers us.Indeed making or not making a choice is
action itself, and is always rational.It is rational because we are exercising our free will; we are
manipulating our environment as best we can.We may find later that we didn’t make the best choice or take the most
efficient action.But that should only
influence our future choices and actions.We always work with the knowledge available to us at the time.If we learn from our actions or other associated
circumstances we should be that much more prepared for future choices and
actions.
We live in a cause and effect, but not necessarily a
mechanistic, world.We are not
determined beings.We ourselves do the
determining.However, we do make
mistakes.We often make the wrong
choices, act in ways that are not in our best interest.But that is not Mises’ point.Mises would say that those are values judgments,
right or wrong.But deciding to act and
acting accordingly are our means by which we reach a desired end.In hindsight we often reflect on our choices
and decide that we did not take the most expedient path, or that unexpected
side effects are not worth the cost required to reach the end sought.But it is we who do the choosing, we who do
the acting.We may open ourselves to
divine guidance and act on what we perceive to be inspired ideas.But we do the acting.The fact that we have free will, freedom of
choice, and the intelligence to utilize these is what separates us from others
in God’s kingdom.Divine guidance, while
obviously relatyed, is another subject altogether, outside the realm of this
entry, but one I should approach at another time.
This is a controversial concept.However, if we keep within the range of
Mises’ teaching and understand his meaning it makes perfect sense.The wild card here is value judgment.Mises says that each person has his/her own
values, and any judgment from outside is inappropriate.I couldn’t agree more.
Systemic Sanity (because)
