======================================================================
=                             Praxeology                             =
======================================================================

                            Introduction
======================================================================
Praxeology or praxiology (; ) is the study of human action, based on
the notion that humans engage in purposeful behavior, as opposed to
reflexive behavior like sneezing and unintentional behavior.

French social philosopher Alfred Espinas gave the term its modern
meaning, and its study was developed independently by two principal
groups: the Austrian school, in which a praxeological approach was
developed by Ludwig von Mises, and the Polish school created by
Tadeusz Kotarbi�ski.


                        Origin and etymology
======================================================================
Coinage of the word 'praxeology' ('praxéologie') is often credited to
Louis Bourdeau, the French author of a classification of the sciences,
which he published in his 'Théorie des sciences: Plan de Science
intégrale' in 1882:

{{quote|On account of their dual natures of specialty and generality,
these functions should be the subject of a separate science. Some of
its parts have been studied for a long time, because this kind of
research, in which man could be the main subject, has always presented
the greatest interest. Physiology, hygiene, medicine, psychology,
animal history, human history, political economy, morality, etc.
represent fragments of a science that we would like to establish, but
as fragments scattered and uncoordinated have remained until now only
parts of particular sciences. They should be joined together and made
whole in order to highlight the order of the whole and its unity. Now
you have a science, so far unnamed, which we propose to call
Praxeology (from ��αξι�, action), or by referring to the influence of
the environment, Mesology (from με�ο�, environment).}}

However, the term was used at least once previously (with a slight
spelling difference), in 1608, by Clemens Timpler in his 'Philosophiae
practicae systema methodicum':

{{quote|There was Aretology: Following that Praxiology: which is the
second part of the Ethics, in general, commenting on the actions of
the moral virtues.}}

It was later mentioned by Robert Flint in 1904 in a review of
Bourdeau's 'Théorie des sciences'.

The modern definition of the word was first given by Alfred V. Espinas
(1844-1922), the French philosopher and sociologist; he was the
forerunner of the Polish school of the science of efficient action.
The Austrian school of economics was based on a philosophical science
of the same kind.

With a different spelling, the word was used by the English
psychologist Charles Arthur Mercier (in 1911), and proposed by Knight
Dunlap to John B. Watson as a better name for his behaviorism. Watson
rejected it. But the Chinese physiologist of behavior, Zing-Yang Kuo
(b. 1898) adopted the term in 1935. It was also used by William
McDougall (in 1928 and later).

Previously the word 'praxiology', with the meaning Espinas gave to it,
was used by Tadeusz Kotarbi�ski (in 1923). Several economists, such as
the Ukrainian, Eugene Slutsky (1926) used it in his attempt to base
economics on a theory of action. It was also used by Austrian
economist Ludwig von Mises (1933), Russian Marxist Nikolai Bukharin
(1888-1938) during the Second International Congress of History of
Science and Technology in London (in 1931), and Polish scholar Oscar
Lange (1904-1965) in 1959, and later.

The Italian philosopher, Carmelo Ottaviano, was using the Italianised
version, 'prassiologia', in his treatises starting from 1935, but in
his own way, as a theory of politics. After the Second World War the
use of the term 'praxeology' spread widely. After the emigration of
Mises to America his pupil Murray Rothbard defended the praxeological
approach. A revival of Espinas's approach in France was revealed in
the works of Pierre Massé (1946), the eminent cybernetician, Georges
Théodule Guilbaud (1953), the Belgian logician, Leo Apostel (1957),
the cybernetician, Anatol Rapoport (1962), Henry Pierron, psychologist
and lexicographer (1957), François Perroux, economist (1957), the
social psychologist, Robert Daval (1963), the well-known sociologist,
Raymond Aron (1963) and the methodologists, Abraham Antoine Moles and
Roland Caude (1965).

Under the influence of Tadeusz Kotarbi�ski, praxeology flourished in
Poland. A special "Centre of Praxeology" ('Zaklad Prakseologiczny')
was created under the organizational guidance of the Polish Academy of
Sciences, with its own periodical (from 1962), called at first
'Materia�y Prakseologiczne' ('Praxeological Papers'), and then
abbreviated to 'Prakseologia'. It published hundreds of papers by
different authors, and the materials for a special vocabulary edited
by Professor Tadeusz Pszczolowski, the leading praxeologist of the
younger generation. A sweeping survey of the praxeological approach is
to be found in the paper by the French statistician Micheline
Petruszewycz, "A propos de la praxéologie".

Ludwig von Mises was influenced by several theories in forming his
work on praxeology, including Immanuel Kant's works, Max Weber's work
on methodological individualism, and Carl Menger's development of the
subjective theory of value.

Philosopher of science Mario Bunge published works of systematic
philosophy that included contributions to praxeology, and Bunge
dismissed von Mises's version of praxeology as "nothing but the
principle of maximization of subjective utility�a fancy version of
egoism". Bunge, who was also a fierce critic of pseudoscience, warned
that when "conceived in extremely general terms and detached from both
ethics and science, praxiology has hardly any practical value".


                         Austrian economics
======================================================================
Austrian economics relies heavily on praxeology in the development of
its economic theories. Ludwig von Mises considered economics to be a
sub-discipline of praxeology. Austrian School economists continue to
use praxeology and deduction, rather than empirical studies, to
determine economic principles. According to its theorists, 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.

Advocates of praxeology also say that it provides insights for the
field of ethics.


Subdivisions
==============
In 1951, Murray Rothbard divided the subfields of praxeology as
follows:
: A. The Theory of the Isolated Individual (Crusoe Economics)
: B. The Theory of Voluntary Interpersonal Exchange (Catallactics, or
the Economics of the Market)
:: 1. Barter
:: 2. With Medium of Exchange
::: a. On the Unhampered Market
::: b. Effects of Violent Intervention with the Market
::: c. Effects of Violent Abolition of the Market (Socialism)
: C. The Theory of War - Hostile Action
: D. The Theory of Games (e.g., von Neumann and Morgenstern)
: E. Unknown
At the time, topics C, D, and E remained open research problems.


Criticisms
============
Thomas Mayer has argued that, because praxeology rejects positivism
and empiricism in the development of theories, it constitutes nothing
less than a rejection of the scientific method. For Mayer, this
invalidates the methodologies of the Austrian school of economics.
Austrians argue that empirical data itself is insufficient to describe
economics; that consequently empirical data cannot falsify economic
theory; that logical positivism cannot predict or explain human
action; and that the methodological requirements of logical positivism
are impossible to obtain for economic questions. Ludwig von Mises in
particular argued against empiricist approaches to the social sciences
in general, because human events are unique and "unrepeatable,"
whereas scientific experiments are necessarily reducible.

However, economist Antony Davies argues that because statistical tests
are predicated on the independent development of theory, some form of
praxeology is essential for model selection; conversely, the
praxeology can illustrate surprising philosophical consequences of
economic models.


                              See also
======================================================================
* Action theory (philosophy)
* Methodological individualism
* Thymology


Polish school
===============
* Gasparski, Wojciech W. (1992-).
'[https://www.routledge.com/Praxiology/book-series/TRANPRAX
Praxiology: The International Annual of Practical Philosophy and
Methodology]'. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.
*


License
=========
All content on Gopherpedia comes from Wikipedia, and is licensed under CC-BY-SA
License URL: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Original Article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Praxeology

You are viewing proxied material from sdf.org. The copyright of proxied material belongs to its original authors. Any comments or complaints in relation to proxied material should be directed to the original authors of the content concerned. Please see the disclaimer for more details.