Wittgenstein, Austrian Economics, and the Logic of Action

by Roderick T. Long

Fascinating and thought-provoking, this book shows how the methodology of Austrian economics can be justified and strengthened by grounding it in the philosophy of Wittgenstein. Frege and Wittgenstein argued that whatever counts as thought must embody logical principles. Their arguments also support the conclusion that whatever constitutes action must embody economic principles. In this incisive text, the author shows that this confirms the claims of Austrian economists such as Mises and Hayek that the laws of economics are a priori rather than empirical

Genres: Philosophy

163 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2008

Reviews

[Dio Mavroyannis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was reading Hayek's counter-revolution of science when somebody recommended this book to me. It's a great little read on methodology. Full of quotations from Hayek, Wittgenstein, and Mises. I think Long is essentially right on most of the points he makes though I disagree with his bout on Popper's Rationality principle. Anyway, great read, very readable, and good fun, but probably not of general interest.