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This post is part of a series exploring Principles of Economics by Carl Menger. The following explores content from chapter 2 . Previously in this series: Menger on Economic vs. Non-Economic Goods As discussed before, economic goods (goods for which requirements exceed available quantities) necessitate...
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This post is part of a series exploring Principles of Economics by Carl Menger. The following explores content from chapter 2 . Previously in this series: Menger on Property If a good is scarce (that is, if requirements for it exceed its available quantities), then it is an economic good, which is to...
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One does not need be a philosopher to have a working theory of morality. Nor need one be an economist to have a working theory of value. One can find implicit theories in the writings of any thoughtful person; and the ancient Greek poet Hesiod was a very thoughtful man. Conversely, one can be a philosopher...
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This post is part of a series exploring Principles of Economics by Carl Menger. The following explores content from chapter 2 . Previously in this series: Menger on Effective and Latent Requirements According to Menger, the first prerequisite of effective planning (which is considering how to satisfy...
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This post is one in a series on the History of Epistemological Thought . Previously in this series: Introducing Works and Days Much of the Works and Days , like the Theogony , is concerned with outlandish tales about the past. Here we have the myths of Prometheus, Pandora, and the Ages of Man (Golden...
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As I discussed in my last post, Hesiod's Eros (Love) can be thought of as a motive force that brings entities to come together (much like gravity) and to create. Khaos felt Eros , the urge or internal force that made it seek to give birth. And what did it first give birth to? Erebos , or Darkness...
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This post is one in a series on the History of Epistemological Thought . Previously in this series: The Epistemology of Divine Poetry . Even though Hesiod pleads "for the Muses told me so" as his chief intellectual justification, a careful reader can glean attempts at non-divine inference in...
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This post is one in a series on the History of Epistemological Thought . Previously in this series: Ethics in the Theogony . Now that I've introduced Hesiod's teachings in his Theogony (regarding cosmology , history , human nature , and ethics ), let us consider the grounds upon which he establishes...
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This post is one in a series on the History of Epistemological Thought . Previously in this series: Human Nature in the Theogony . There are some ethical considerations for the gods themselves before the establishment of Zeus's new order discussed in History in the Theogony . Again, Ouranos was the...
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This post is one in a series on the History of Epistemological Thought . Previously in this series: History in the Theogony . The anthropomorphic aspects of Hesiod's gods also give the Theogony some interesting insights into human nature. We have male striving: an eternal quest for women and power...
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This post is one in a series on the History of Epistemological Thought . Previously in this series: The Cosmology of Hesiod . The anthropomorphic aspects of Hesiod's cosmology are interesting in their own right as possible mythological tellings of actual events. (Herodotus and Plutarch took several...
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This post is one in a series on the History of Epistemological Thought . Previously in this series: Introducing the Theogony . A traditional synopsis of the Theogony might go as follows. The gods Khaos , Gaia , and Eros "come to be". Then Khaos gives birth to Nyx and Erebos , who in turn give...
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This post is one in a series on the History of Epistemological Thought . Previously in this series: The Inspiration of Hesiod . The Theogony is likely the work of poetry which made Hesiod's name. In his later poem Works and Days , Hesiod tells of how he won a prominent prize for poetry, and it is...
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This post is one in a series on the History of Epistemological Thought . Previously in this series: Epistemology in (Western) History: From Hesiod to Hoppe . One ancient day, at the foot of Mount Helicon in Boeotia, a lowly shepherd named Hesiod tended his flock. Upon entering a clearing, he found to...