Editing Human Action (section)

=== Part One: Human Action ===
'''Chapter 1''', "Acting Man", explains the concept of '''[[Action (philosophy)|human action]]''', which is defined as"purposeful behavior" and distinguished from reflexive behavior in that an observer imputes a goal to the actor.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Purposeful Action and Animal Reaction |url=https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/613 |access-date=2023-02-24 |website=Mises Institute |language=en |archive-date=February 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230224161141/https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/613 |url-status=dead }}</ref> '''Praxeology''' is the science of action as such, which studies the results deduced from the fact that people have goals and adopt means to achieve them.<ref name=":1" /> For an action to occur, the actor must be in a state of unease, imagine a more satisfactory state, and believe that purposeful behavior can reduce the uneasiness.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=The Prerequisites of Human Action |url=https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/614 |access-date=2023-02-24 |website=Mises Institute |language=en |archive-date=February 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230224161141/https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/614 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The text addresses the concept of happiness and instinct, where '''happiness''' is defined entirely by the subjective goals of the individual actor, and humans can suppress their biological urges.<ref name=":2" /> The study of human action begins with the ultimate given of human action itself, and all studies of human actions must rely on [[methodological dualism]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Human Action as an Ultimate Given |url=https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/615 |access-date=2023-02-24 |website=Mises Institute |language=en |archive-date=May 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230531035212/https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/615 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Praxeology is subjective, as it takes actors' subjective ends as they exist in the minds of each person, but by refraining from passing judgment on these ends, it remains objective.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rationality and Irrationality; Subjectivism and Objectivity of Praxeological Research |url=https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/616 |access-date=2023-02-24 |website=Mises Institute |language=en |archive-date=June 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230601161911/https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/616 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Causality is necessary for action, and the [[Uncertainty principle|Heisenberg uncertainty principle]] does not alter this.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Causality as a Requirement of Action |url=https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/617 |access-date=2023-02-24 |website=Mises Institute |language=en |archive-date=June 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230606102901/https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/617 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Finally, the text introduces the concept of the alter ego, where all events must fall in the realm of [[teleology]] or causality.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Alter Ego |url=https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/618 |access-date=2023-02-24 |website=Mises Institute |language=en |archive-date=May 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230530232320/https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/618 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

'''Chapter 2''', "The [[Epistemology|Epistemological]] Problems of the Sciences of Human Action", is about the sciences of human action, praxeology, and history.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Praxeology and History |url=https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/638 |access-date=2023-02-24 |website=Mises Institute |language=en |archive-date=February 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230224161626/https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/638 |url-status=dead }}</ref> "History is the collection and systematic arrangement of all the data of experience concerning human action."<ref name=":3" /> Praxeology, on the other hand, starts from the fact of human action and uses logical deduction to arrive at a priori truths that are valid for all action, both in the past and future.<ref name=":3" /> The principles of causality and teleology are also necessary prerequisites for the mind to make sense of the world.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Formal and Aprioristic Character of Praxeology |url=https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/639 |access-date=2023-02-24 |website=Mises Institute |language=en |archive-date=February 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230224161635/https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/639 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The text emphasizes that praxeology concerns the actions of individuals and deals with individual actions, not vague action in general.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Principle of Methodological Individualism |url=https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/643 |access-date=2023-02-24 |website=Mises Institute |language=en |archive-date=July 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230705022522/https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/643 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The historian can rely on other disciplines but must use his prior value judgments and theories to determine what is relevant and then present the facts accordingly.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Scope and the Specific Method of History |url=https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/646 |access-date=2023-02-24 |website=Mises Institute |language=en |archive-date=March 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325013444/https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/646 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The limitations on praxeological concepts are also discussed.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Limitations on Praxeological Concepts |url=https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/655 |access-date=2023-02-24 |website=Mises Institute |language=en |archive-date=February 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230224161620/https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/655 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

'''Chapter 3''', "Economics and the Revolt Against Reason", discusses the topic of '''polylogism''', which is the belief that different groups of people, such as different races or social classes, have fundamentally different ways of thinking and reasoning.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=The Logical Aspect of Polylogism |url=https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/657 |access-date=2023-02-24 |website=Mises Institute |language=en |archive-date=July 22, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230722155203/https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/657 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Mises argues that this idea is not supported by evidence and is instead used as a way to discredit opponents' arguments without actually addressing them.<ref name=":4" /> He also emphasizes the importance of [[reason]] as the primary tool for acting humans and warns against rejecting it in favor of instinct, which would be detrimental to civilization.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Racial Polylogism |url=https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/659 |access-date=2023-02-24 |website=Mises Institute |language=en |archive-date=February 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230224161947/https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/659 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

'''Chapter 4''', "A First Analysis of the Category of Action", discusses the concept of ends and means, where the '''end''' is the result sought by an actor and the '''means''' are used to attain the end.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |title=Ends and Means |url=https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/663 |access-date=2023-02-24 |website=Mises Institute |language=en |archive-date=February 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230224162311/https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/663 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Praxeology analyzes an actor's goals and beliefs to explain market phenomena.<ref name=":5" /> The distinction between free goods and economic goods is unhelpful, and goods are classified as consumers' goods or producers' goods based on their direct or indirect satisfaction of human wants.<ref name=":5" /> Value resides in the minds of actors who rank objects according to their desirability.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |title=The Scale of Value |url=https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/664 |access-date=2023-02-24 |website=Mises Institute |language=en |archive-date=June 8, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230608222044/https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/664 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Economics can be built on the subjective scale of values possessed by actual individuals.<ref name=":6" /> All actions are voluntary exchanges where the cost of an action is the value of the price paid and the forgone satisfaction. Profit is a subjective category that is immeasurable, and actors are fallible.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Action as an Exchange |url=https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/666 |access-date=2023-02-24 |website=Mises Institute |language=en |archive-date=June 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230602040832/https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/666 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

'''Chapter 5''', "Time", discusses the temporal character of praxeology, the study of human action.<ref name=":7">{{Cite web |title=Time as a Praxeological Factor |url=https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/670 |access-date=2023-02-24 |website=Mises Institute |language=en |archive-date=February 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230224162738/https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/670 |url-status=dead }}</ref> While praxeology is a logical system, it is intimately related to time,<ref name=":7" /> as action is what makes man aware of the flux of time.<ref name=":8">{{Cite web |title=Past, Present, and Future |url=https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/671 |access-date=2023-02-24 |website=Mises Institute |language=en |archive-date=June 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230609222159/https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/671 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The '''present''' is not defined as a unit of duration but rather as the presence of a ripe opportunity to take potential action.<ref name=":8" /> Time is scarce,<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Economization of Time |url=https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/672 |access-date=2023-02-24 |website=Mises Institute |language=en |archive-date=February 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230224162728/https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/672 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and must be economized even in a hypothetical paradise where all material needs are met.<ref name=":8" /> Actions must occur in succession through time, and it is the action itself that is the brute fact, not an underlying value scale.<ref name=":9">{{Cite web |title=The Temporal Relation Between Actions |url=https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/673 |access-date=2023-02-24 |website=Mises Institute |language=en |archive-date=June 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230606101108/https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/673 |url-status=dead }}</ref> It is pointless to judge the actions of individuals with reference to their value scales.<ref name=":9" />

'''Chapter 6''', "Uncertainty", discusses uncertainty and probability in human action.<ref name=":10">{{Cite web |title=Uncertainty and Acting |url=https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/675 |access-date=2023-02-24 |website=Mises Institute |language=en |archive-date=February 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230224161529/https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/675 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Action implies uncertainty because if the future were known, there would be no impetus to act.<ref name=":10" /> The problem of probable inference, reaching a decision in the face of incomplete knowledge, is a broad one that cuts across many disciplines.<ref name=":11">{{Cite web |title=The Meaning of Probability |url=https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/676 |access-date=2023-02-24 |website=Mises Institute |language=en |archive-date=February 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230224161148/https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/676 |url-status=dead }}</ref> There are two fields of probability, class and case probability, with the former applicable to natural sciences and the latter applicable to social sciences.<ref name=":11" /> In '''class probability''', we know everything about the entire class of events or phenomena, but we know nothing particular about the individuals making up the class.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Class Probability |url=https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/677 |access-date=2023-02-24 |website=Mises Institute |language=en |archive-date=February 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230224161650/https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/677 |url-status=dead }}</ref> '''Case probability''' is applicable when we know some factors that will affect a particular event, but we are ignorant of other factors that will also influence the outcome.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Case Probability |url=https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/678 |access-date=2023-02-24 |website=Mises Institute |language=en |archive-date=February 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230224161237/https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/678 |url-status=dead }}</ref> '''Betting''' is when a man risks money on an outcome where he knows some of the factors involved, while '''gambling''' is when he risks money on an outcome where he knows only the frequencies of the various elements of the class.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Betting, Gambling, and Playing Games |url=https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/680 |access-date=2023-02-24 |website=Mises Institute |language=en |archive-date=February 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230224161153/https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/680 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Praxeology can make certain qualitative predictions about the future, but quantitative forecasts are not certain.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Praxeological Prediction |url=https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/681 |access-date=2023-02-24 |website=Mises Institute |language=en |archive-date=February 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230224161147/https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/681 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

'''Chapter 7''', "Action Within the World", covers several topics related to economics and human action, including the law of marginal utility, the law of returns, human labor as a means, and production.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Action Within the World |url=https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/p/692 |access-date=2023-02-24 |website=Mises Institute |language=en |archive-date=February 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230224161140/https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/p/692 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The '''law of marginal utility''' refers to the fact that the utility of successive units of a given good decreases, as the actor will apply the additional units to less and less urgent ends. Marginal utility is always defined according to the subjective framework of the actor in question.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Law of Marginal Utility |url=https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/691 |access-date=2023-02-24 |website=Mises Institute |language=en |archive-date=February 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230224161222/https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/691 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The '''law of returns''' describes the quantitative causal relations of the world, specifically in relation to producer goods.<ref name=":12">{{Cite web |title=The Law of Returns |url=https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/701 |access-date=2023-02-24 |website=Mises Institute |language=en |archive-date=February 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230224161231/https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/701 |url-status=dead }}</ref> A given unit of a producer good must always act in combination with at least one other producer good to yield a definite quantity of a consumer good.<ref name=":12" /> At some finite point, an "optimum" level will be reached, and the quantity of output per unit of input will be maximized.<ref name=":12" /> '''Human labor as a means''' carries [[disutility]],<ref name=":13">{{Cite web |title=Human Labor as a Means |url=https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/702 |access-date=2023-02-24 |website=Mises Institute |language=en |archive-date=February 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230224161148/https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/702 |url-status=dead }}</ref> meaning that actors will not devote the physiological-maximum amount of labor to achieve attainable ends.<ref name=":13" /> The disutility of labor increases as the supply of leisure shrinks.<ref name=":13" /> Labor is the ultimate "nonspecific" factor and is required in every production process.<ref name=":13" /> '''Production''' is not creative but rather combines various inputs to produce a good or service.<ref name=":14">{{Cite web |title=Production |url=https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/703 |access-date=2023-02-24 |website=Mises Institute |language=en |archive-date=February 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230224161144/https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/703 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The creative genius is an exception to this, as they do not labor for immediate or mediate gratification.<ref name=":14" />