Action axiom

On the action axiom

Decision theory and, hence, decision analysis are based on the maximum expected utility (MEU) action axiom. In general, the principle for action embodied by an action axiom (such as MEU) is highly defensible and its scope very broad.

The action-axiom is the basis of praxeology in the Austrian School, and it is the proposition that all specimens of the species Homo sapiens, the Homo agens, purposely utilize means over a period of time in order to achieve desired ends. In Human Action, Ludwig von Mises defined “action” in the sense of the action axiom by elucidating:

Human action is purposeful behavior. Or we may say: Action is will put into operation and transformed into an agency, is aiming at ends and goals, is the ego's meaningful response to stimuli and to the conditions of its environment, is a person's conscious adjustment to the state of the universe that determines his life. Such paraphrases may clarify the definition given and prevent possible misinterpretations. But the definition itself is adequate and does not need complement of commentary.[1]

gollark: Not that somehow returning everyone to monke would fix environmental issues so much as make them happen slower and make people unable to do anything about them.
gollark: You seemed to be suggesting it was anarchoprimitivism before.
gollark: Possibly air pollution too.
gollark: It also isn't a very stable equilibrium when people know what "farming" and "tool use" are.
gollark: Hunter gathering also can't support anywhere near as many people as modern agriculture, so that's a consideration under some ethical systems.

See also

Notes
  1. Ludwig von Mises. Human Action, p. 11, "Purposeful Action and Animal Reaction". Referenced 2011-11-23.


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