The Road to Truth

"So, here's to the men who did what was considered wrong, in order to do what they knew was right...what they knew was right."
--Benjamin Franklin Gates

Was reading a blog written by some Lefty writer at Salon.com who was attempting to read Mises' (1949) Human Action.

The writer confessed that he was having trouble chewing thru the book, perhaps because his mind was having trouble with concepts that did not fit his view of the world. This comment stuck out to me in particular:

"...aside from the content of the first two chapters, what struck me most about Human Action was Mises' absolute certainty that he was right, beyond any reasonable doubt..."

Perhaps the writer doesn't realize it, but that is the goal of reasoned thought. Reasoning is the process of getting closer to the truth--to what is right or correct. Reasoning allows us to generate hypotheses or to consider claims made by others--and then test them for their validity. This testing may be done against empirical evidence or by using logic and reason. If we remain intellectually honest during this process, then we will advance closer to the truth over time.

Human Action reflects Mises' life work in pursuing the truth. His writing reflects what he knew was right.

Mises chose the road to truth--a road that beckons to us all.

References

Mises, L. 1949. Human action. New Haven: Yale University Press.