THE BORE

General => The Superdeep Borehole => Topic started by: AWESOM-O on October 29, 2014, 08:57:52 PM

Title: Praxeology OT
Post by: AWESOM-O on October 29, 2014, 08:57:52 PM: ITT, we discuss the most devastating and unassailable march of logic and reason that the world has ever seen.

What is praxeology, you may ask?

Quote
Praxeology (Gr. πρᾶξις (praxis) ″action″, λόγος (logos) ″talk, speech″) is the deductive study of human action based on the fact that humans engage in purposeful behavior, as opposed to reflexive behavior like sneezing and inanimate behavior.[1] According to adherents, with the action axiom as the starting point, it is possible to draw conclusions about human behavior that are both objective and universal. For example, the notion that humans engage in acts of choice implies that they have preferences, and this must be true for anyone who exhibits intentional behavior.

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Praxeology starts from the undeniable axiom that human beings exist and act, and then logically deduces implications of this fact. These deduced propositions are true a priori; there is no need to test them in the way that a physicist might test a proposed "law" of Nature. So long as a praxeological statement has been derived correctly, it must necessarily contain as much truth as the original axioms.

:lawd

If this sounds too good to be true, it isn't. Have you wondered why economists can't agree on anything, besides the things they do happen to agree on? It's because they've fallen into the trap of using "empirical data", or positivism :yuck Praxeologists of the Austrian School have no such limitations:

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logical positivism cannot predict or explain human action and that empirical data itself is insufficient to describe economics which in turn implies that empirical data cannot falsify economic theory and that logical positivism is not the proper method of conducting economic science.

"empirical data cannot falsify economic theory" :rejoice

Okay, okay, all of this sounds good in theory, but what can you do with it? Plenty, it turns out. We can show (again, with completely unassailable logic) that the existence of the state is the greatest ongoing crime against nature in the history of nature.

Start with the idea of a man on an island (it is an undeniable axiom that men have existed on islands). He can own nothing but the fruits of his own labor (and perhaps a volleyball, which he might paint a human face on for companionship, should one wash ashore).

Now add another man. The possibilities become much more exciting (no PD)! Now these two men can engage in mutually beneficial trade. Suppose Maurice can harvest 100 nuts per day or catch two fish per day. Esch can catch four fish per day or harvest 50 nuts per day. Unassailable logic shows us that Esch should specialize in fish while Maurice specializes in nuts, and the two should trade with each other. In this way, both will be better off.

But how do we know how many nuts are worth one fish? The beauty is that there is no correct answer! It all depends on the subjective value each person assigns to a particular good. So long as both parties trade their goods voluntarily, both parties are undeniably made better off by trading freely with each other. This is the beauty of mutually beneficial transactions.
:aah

Now let's expand this. Suppose that, working solely by themselves, Maurice, Esch, and Miles could each produce half a cup of gruel per day. But along comes Doug, who owns a factory, which enables each of them to produce one hundred widgets per day. Each widget can be exchanged for a cup of gruel on the free market. Maurice, Esch and Miles would all be better off producing widgets in Doug's factory in exchange for payment of a full cup of gruel per day than they would be if they all were working alone in a state of nature. The beauty of mutually beneficial transactions is that nobody loses.
:ohhh

From here, it is obvious to any thinking person that interventions in the market can only hurt everyone involved. Enter Franklin, the illegitimate dictator. He imposes the mandate that Maurice, Esch and Miles can only work in Doug's factory if they are paid two cups of gruel per day. This inarguably limits the number of transactions that can be made. Franklin is saying that Doug and our other three rational actors cannot enter into agreements that all of them find mutually satisfactory. Franklin is essentially declaring himself co-owner of Doug's factory and co-owner of Maurice, Esch and Miles' labor.
:snoop

Because such interventions can only make people worse off, they can only be achieved through the threat of violence. Essentially, with his monopoly on force, Franklin declares that these four men do not fully own their lives and property. Such a state is factually indistinguishable from slavery.

So there you have it. Count yourself now among the enlightened. Alternatively, feel free to mount a critique against my logic, but be prepared for failure, as my position is based on axioms that are objective and undeniable.
Title: Re: Praxeology OT
Post by: jakefromstatefarm on October 29, 2014, 09:07:00 PM: circumlocution :lawd
Title: Re: Praxeology OT
Post by: nudemacusers on October 29, 2014, 09:15:54 PM: i appreciate the effort, but I stopped reading at nopd. can you do a small version withpd? :phil
Title: Re: Praxeology OT
Post by: Barry Egan on October 29, 2014, 09:31:44 PM: I like the part where reality no longer matters.
Title: Re: Praxeology OT
Post by: I'm a Puppy! on October 29, 2014, 10:03:10 PM: (http://i.imgur.com/Rs0zFNc.gif)
Title: Re: Praxeology OT
Post by: Van Cruncheon on October 29, 2014, 11:47:01 PM: but what if all my intentional actions are falsifications :smug
Title: Re: Praxeology OT
Post by: recursivelyenumerable on October 29, 2014, 11:50:29 PM: I actually read a good chunk of that book (Human Action by von Muses) back in the day, fun stuff.
Title: Re: Praxeology OT
Post by: Van Cruncheon on October 29, 2014, 11:51:53 PM: i swear the austrian school is just the economics equivalent of ad&d 2nd edition
Title: Re: Praxeology OT
Post by: jakefromstatefarm on October 30, 2014, 12:49:45 AM: Quote from: Esch on October 30, 2014, 12:37:37 AM
What if I were to make the rational choice to petition my government to implement national healthcare? :jawalrus

Or labor unions :jawalrus

Or any type of social insurance :jawalrus
they would take a laissez faire approach in addressing your concerns (http://www.thecoli.com/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/troll.png)
Title: Re: Praxeology OT
Post by: benjipwns on October 30, 2014, 09:08:24 AM: I like how mad people get over the simple scientific study of human action. And the admission that philosophy is undergirded by axiomatic principles.

All because some other dudes came along and used it along with their own philosophy of political economy to fire shots at the supposed benefits of totalitarianism.

spoiler (click to show/hide)
Throw shade at the idea of subjective value like an Objectivist, brehs.
[close]
Title: Re: Praxeology OT
Post by: team filler on June 25, 2019, 11:25:36 PM: :doge
Title: Re: Praxeology OT
Post by: curly on June 25, 2019, 11:36:58 PM: Quote from: benjipwns on October 30, 2014, 09:08:24 AM
I like how mad people get over the simple scientific study of human action. And the admission that philosophy is undergirded by axiomatic principles.

All because some other dudes came along and used it along with their own philosophy of political economy to fire shots at the supposed benefits of totalitarianism.

spoiler (click to show/hide)
Throw shade at the idea of subjective value like an Objectivist, brehs.
[close]

Is this a rare angry benji
Title: Re: Praxeology OT
Post by: Kara on June 25, 2019, 11:40:38 PM: benji's facemask slips can get way worse than that. :shaq
Title: Re: Praxeology OT
Post by: jakefromstatefarm on June 25, 2019, 11:59:23 PM: Quote from: benjipwns on October 30, 2014, 09:08:24 AM
And the admission that philosophy is undergirded by axiomatic principles.
we need a version of that I told you about stairs bro meme except instead of hella Jeff it’s Quine and instead of stairs it’s foundationalism
Title: Re: Praxeology OT
Post by: Rufus on June 26, 2019, 01:32:32 AM: Quote from: Kara on June 25, 2019, 11:40:38 PM
benji's facemask slips can get way worse than that. :shaq
It's scary af :brazilcry