Thanks for the mythology recommendations William.
I finished Barnett’s The Structure of Liberty. It is an excellent argument for a polycentric order, particularly since it takes what I think is the best approach: emphasizing the intractable problems of social activity which any political philosophy must grapple with. As with the writings of the great classical liberals, I cannot believe anyone could finish this book without thinking that a decentralized, depoliticized order is the best system available to us imperfect beings. It should be especially prized for being an ancap book from the perspective of a practicing lawyer. Barnett knows his economics and moral history, but he is able to provide insights about the spontaneous development of law and legal institutions that people like Friedman, Hayek, Benson, de Jasay, et al could not be expected to know. His work as a prosecutor also inspires a heavy emphasis on the dangers of enforcement error and abuse.
Though I just received de Jasay’s Social Contract, Free Ride, my mind could use a break. I think I’m going to read Mises: The Last Knight of Liberalism at my leisure. Something that doesn’t need frequent contemplation or note-taking.
Soon, however, I would like to delve into Mises’ epistemology. I’ve read Human Action, but didn’t comprehend the importance of the first 100 pages until much later. I hope to reread HA soon, but I want to get the epistemology down first. Does anyone have any recommendations for this endeavour? Should Theory and History be considered Mises’ definitive work? Should I read Epistemological Problems of Economics first, last, at all? Would anyone recommend a certain order in reading T&H, EPoE and the first section of HA? And in light of this blog post, are there any Hayekians who would recommend reading Hayek’s take before getting too engrossed in Mises’ epistemology?
In the introduction to Ultimate Foundation of Economic Science, Mises enjoined the reader to consider Human Action and Theory and History his true contributions to epistemological thought.
I would go at it in the following order…
- Theory and History
- First Section of Human Action (Read this keeping in mind that when he says “psychology” he usually means what he calls “thymology” in T&H)
- Ultimate Foundation of Economic Science
- Epistemological Problems of Economics (Read this keeping mind that when he says “sociology” he means “praxeology”)
Also, there is this truly great opportunity coming up, in which all the above works will be covered and explained…
I think that’s a great book! And it’s incredibly underexposed in the libertarian community. The phrase “polycentric constitutional order” has much less shock value than anarchism, but I never actually put it into practice.
Thanks Danny; that’s exactly what I was looking for.
And StrangeLoop, I have seen the book mentioned now and again, but it definitely seems underappreciated. The price is certainly responsible in some part; hopefully there will some day be a second edition at a lower price. This kind of book should not be forgotten. (I’m also happy to say that, after reading the excellent Enterprise of Law, I got an affordable copy of Benson’s To Serve and Protect)
Great! To Serve and Protect is one of the best expositions of privatized justice ever written (I ordered a much cheaper used version).
As my waiting-to-fall-asleep iTunes audiobook, I just finished listening to Will Durant’s The Story of Civilization, Volume 2: The Life of Greece. It was magnificent. My first exposure to Durant was his The Story of Philosophy. His chapters on Plato and Aristotle were so excellent, that I wished he could have also spent more time on other Greek thinkers. I figured that The Story of Civilization (which was written subsequently) was probably more of a general history, and that the Life of Greece volume would not include much discussion of the actual content of ancient philosophy. I have been delighted to find how wrong I was. He discusses all of it: the Miletian natural philosophers, Pythagoras, Heraclitus, Parmenedes, Democritus, the Sophists, Aristippus, Diogenes the Cynic, Arcecileus, Theophrastus, Xeno the Stoic, Epicurus, the Hellenistic Scientists, and more on Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. And he discusses all of him with all the clarity, insight, and integration that I’ve come to love his writing for. What’s more, he purposefully casts aside the lame tradition, common with historians of Ancient Greece, of neglecting the Hellenistic Era. Next up on my iTunes, Volume 3: Caesar and Christ, Durant’s history of the Roman Era.
Also, as my following-my-wife-around-Taipei-City iPhone audiobooks, I just finished listening to The Classical Economists: Beginning a New World of Economic Insight by E.G. West and Karl Marx: Das Kapital: From Capitalist Exploitation to Communist Revolution by David Ramsay Steele. Both were edited by Israel Kirzner, and both were quite good. Next up for listening on my iPhone: The German Historical School of Economics: Welfare Capitalism Begins by Nicholas Balabkins.
For my unexpected-idle-time iPhone Stanza App book, I’m halfway through the EPUB of Mises’ The Causes of Economic Crisis And Other Essays Before and After the Great Depression. And for my work-break reading on my Nook ereader, I’m almost halfway through Hume’s Essays, Moral, Political, Literary. Those men were two of the brightest lights that ever burned on this Earth.
I just started reading that book about Greece by Will Durant. After reading Our Oriental Heritage, which is the first book in the series. I agree that they are excellent books. Our Oriental Heritage was written in 1935, I think. And at the end of the book, predicts a conflict between Japan and the US. Though, he uses the capitalist theory of imperialism (workers not being able to afford their own product, so companies must look for and control markets abroad to have anyone to buy the products). This was before the ‘affluent’ society, when the opposite was the case. But certainly Durant has a good and objective eye for facts. And some of the details in this book are depressing.
All the books in this series, I think, are available for free over at archive.org in a number of formats. Including audio on some of them.
Also for history buffs, I recommend Gore Vidals Narratives of Empire series: Burr, Lincoln, 1876, Empire, Hollywood, Washington DC. Lest you think the US was ever a ‘republic’ that minded its own business only (which even ‘libertarians’ are so wont to believe). Vidal brings the scholarship and actual documents to life in these historical novels. The US seems to be the only nation-state in history that never had any pretense of its own business or some limit to expansion and force. Even reading some of the angry amazon.com reviews of these books is great.
In Our Oriental Heritage, Will Durant also predicted China’s economic and world-political comeback (again this was him writing in the 1930s).
Moving along, read Rollback and reviewed it on amazon, about 30 pages into Libertarianism Today. Reading “Crush It” for motivation. Beginning the process of beefing up my math skills, hoping to enter phd program for math at GMU.
Does anyone knows a good book about entrepreneuring?
Reading Hazzlitt’s THE INFLATION CRISIS, AND HOW TO RESOLVE IT.
He talks about the Weimar Republic, the place we are going to. Oddly enough, at a time the govt was printing a quadrillion marks a day, economists were insisting there was no inflation.
He also describes in detail the effects of govt stimulus and quantitative easing on production. Not very positive.
I’m reading the Mises Discussion Forum at the moment.
Jeremiah, I’m hoping to get a masters in math. I was going to major in math, but I felt it would add another year of undergraduate studies, and that’s not something I want to do. What kind of preparatory math classes do you suggest I take for a masters? I’m not really sure what a masters covers. I might minor in math just for preperation.
I’m currently reading Max Stirner’s The Ego and Its Own again. I do love how Stirner demolishes the Communist Manifesto before it even was written. Stirner’s always captivated me.
I also finished Thom Stark’s The Human Faces of God: What Scripture Reveals When It Gets God Wrong (and Why Inerrancy Tries To Hide It). An astounding case again Biblical inerrancy while still being very much Christian. It is an amazing demolishing of “New Atheism” (that is to say, the core of the book’s purpose takes away stereotypical argumentations in its favor), fundamentalism, and current apologetics, while still being Christian and placing Christianity at its beautifully unique core. Fantastic work. Shows that Christianity shouldn’t be about pathetic apologetics and should embrace errancy in a good way.
Further, I have ordered five books I can’t wait to get on:
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Hayek’s The Sensory Order (neuroscientific foundation for methodological dualism? I’m in.)
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Anthony de Jasay’s Justice and Its Surroundings, and Political Philosophy: Clearly (this man is still by far my favorite libertarian political theorist these days)
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L.A. Rollins The Myth of Natural Rights (I’m dying to see his argumentation - I ordered this book before but I got a different book that seems to provide a “response to critics” thing that I never knew existed, and it just rocks my socks)
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Stephen Finlan’s Problems With Atonement: The Origins Of, And Controversy About, The Atonement Doctrine. I’m glad I finally ordered a copy. It shows how penal substitution atonement (that Jesus “died for your sins”, or rather, needed to be “sacrificed” for God) is not only a really bad theological doctrine, but also it was not even a part of orthodox Christianity until much later. As a result, I do think by getting rid of penal substitution atonement, Finlan’s wonderfully researched theology shows how ancient orthodox Christianity is very much existential in how they saw Jesus. It all comes together beautifully.
Those sound fascinating EternalMind.
I just finished listening to the audiobook of Caesar and Christ, Will Durant’s history of the Roman era. Wonderful stuff. Now I’m listening to his medieval history, The Age of Faith. I’m a bit stymied with my progress through Hume’s Essays, because I can’t get my Nook eReader to wake up (I may need to send in the battery for a replacement). But that might be a saving grace, because it gives me more time to read all the Mises Dailies for my Mises Weekly podcast.
@Jonathan M. F. Catalán
Jeremiah, I’m hoping to get a masters in math. I was going to major in math, but I felt it would add another year of undergraduate studies, and that’s not something I want to do. What kind of preparatory math classes do you suggest I take for a masters? I’m not really sure what a masters covers. I might minor in math just for preperation.
Sorry for the delay, i’ve been on vacation. Math is an involving subject. I’ve been out of school for four years now, teaching seventh grade math for a couple of years and college freshmen for the last year plus. Needless to say, i’ve lost a lot of my skill sets and have been reworking may through a calc textbook. For most masters degrees they require 18 credits of 300-400 level math and top notch GRE math scores. Many universities have entrance exams also. You need at least 2 semesters in calc with analytic geometry, a course in differential equations and solid foundation in linear algebra.
Hyperion
I am reading the “History of Ancient Egypt” on Wikipedia.
What I am reading
Fiction: An Alt History Mystery called “Fatherland”. Pretty good. 
Non-Fiction: Re-reading Freedom Evolves by Daniel Dennett. I am no philosopher, but to me his version of compatabilism is the only one that makes sense.
What I should be reading
Wooldridge’s Introductory Econometrics textbook for an exam next week. 