Philosophy

While Mises was a utilitarian, he believed people acted to improve their lot because of a felt uneasiness that could be rectified through free markets.

Anarchy is not chaos, and the state does not provide order.

While Austrian and feminist critiques of neoclassical economics have some similarities, they also differ strongly on important points. Feminist critiques are based upon what Mises called polylogism, while Austrian critiques are based upon praxeology.

In a recent symposium on Murray Rothbard's For a New Liberty, philosopher Matt Zwolinski takes issue with Rothbard on Murray’s views of freedom and property rights.

Mainstream economists believe that economic theory is valid when it “predicts” economic actions or trends. Austrian economists, however, say that the purpose of economic theory is to explain economic events.

While Austrian and feminist critiques of neoclassical economics have some similarities, they also differ strongly on important points. Feminist critiques are based upon what Mises called polylogism, while Austrian critiques are based upon praxeology.

A common knock on libertarianism is that it is so individualistic that it rejects the concept of community. (Think of the political cartoon in which the libertarian lifeguard let people drown.) In truth, strong communities also need free individuals.

Robert Kagan of the Brookings Institute clearly does not like anyone to challenge his pro-war beliefs. In his view, any opposition to the all-powerful American state is opposition to everything good and true.

Feminist theorist Judith Butler is calling for mandatory education to confront children with modern gender theory. As David Gordon points out, she wants to use coercion to force people to accept her theories.

Libertarianism is criticized on all sides, but a new criticism has emerged that claims libertarianism is little more than another form of critical theory. Like the other complaints, this one is based on fallacious thinking.