Man chooses ultimate ends first and then the means to attain them. These acts of choosing are determined by thoughts about which the natural sciences do not know how to give us any information. FULL ARTICLE by Ludwig von Mises
Source link: http://archive.mises.org/13261/misess-introduction-to-theory-and-history/
Mises’s Introduction to Theory and History
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I’m just about the pickiest person ever when it comes to books, but Theory and History is the single most insightful thing I have ever read, and probably the best thing I ever will read. Suddenly, everything up to that point felt like just a dream; I was finally alive.
Mises: “If nonetheless the occurrence of such an event is reported, two different interpretations are provided, both of which, however, fully agree in taking for granted the inexorability of the laws of nature.”
Actually, there is a third option: the Lord understands the laws of nature better than we do. For example, a simple transistor radio might appear as a miracle to tribal people, or to people of the past. But it’s not. Our generation simply knows more about nature than did previous generations.
An excellent book that expands on this topic of methodological dualism is Edward Feser’s “The Last Superstition: A Refutation of the New Atheism”
“Those divines who saw that nothing but revelation could provide man with perfect certainty were right.”
Very interesting thought. I wish he had developed it more. I know that later in life Mises became an admirer of the theologian Karl Barth.
The nice thing about this article is that it confirms so much of my thinking. I remember, in college, being a philosophical sort, in a religious environment, and making many of the claims (amateurishly, of course) that Mises (brilliantly) lays out here. I’ve just downloaded the PDF for Theory and History, and I’m going to provide a link for this article so some of my friends can read it, if they wish.
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