Difference between revisions of "Act"
From Critiques Of Libertarianism
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This redefinition is one of the ways Austrians systematically exclude numerous real-world factors and much modern psychological science. It also has the ideological benefit of excluding most other economic thought, which contributes to maintaining the isolation of the believers. | This redefinition is one of the ways Austrians systematically exclude numerous real-world factors and much modern psychological science. It also has the ideological benefit of excluding most other economic thought, which contributes to maintaining the isolation of the believers. | ||
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| + | When criticized for such redefinitions, a common defense is to provide caveats that allow indefinitely extended (and thus inconclusive) argument. Here is an example from Mises' ''Human Action'': | ||
| + | "The fact that an action is in the regular course of affairs performed spontaneously, as it were, does not mean that it is not due to a conscious volition and to a deliberate choice. Indulgence in a routine which possibly could be changed is action." | ||
| + | These caveats remove all the logical strength of the original definition, and make any particular case a matter of authority about whether or not the term applies. | ||
