Ludwig von Mises as a Philosopher of Science. Towards Epistemological Foundations of Praxeology

Abstract

Presented paper highlights the methodological approach towards economic science elaborated by one of the most influential proponents of the Austrian School of Economics, Ludwig von Mises. Since author's main attempt was to consider Mises as a philosopher, his contributions to methodology are described with a special regard to their philosophical, particularly epistemologicalfoundations. An image ofMises that emergesfrom the article is the one of a profound thinker who came up with a truly wide-ranging thought, covering issues such as the proper method of economics, methodological monism and pluralism, an autonomy of the humane sciences as well as their epistemological status, and - finally - classical problems of western philosophy, namely the questions of the sources and limits of human knowledge, realism and idealism, determinism and indeterminism, the existence of a free will, and the body-mind problem. Even though Mises declared himself to be just an economist and many philosophical remarks are given in his works merely as hints, it seems as if he was fully aware of the complex matters which the economic science relies upon. In terms of the methodology of humane sciences, primarily economics, Mises invented a new understanding of the a priori method: the system of claims logically derived from the self-evident action axiom that has become a starting point of the contemporary Austrian School of economic analysis ever since. Having taken the position of a methodological dualism, he introduced the distinction between the realms of natural and humane sciences, which was the reason for his sharply critical assessment of the neopositivist ideal of an unified science. In the field offundamental questions ofphilosophy, Mises appears to be supportivefor Kantian trancscendentalism, nonetheless authorfinds his standpoint modified around a couple ofinnovationsfollowingfrom the Misesian praxeology, for instance a theory of a priori forms as tools of action or the hypothesis of their evolutionary genesis. In author's opinion, it makes Mises a so called "activist kantian".