In your opinion, what the 10 most essential works within the Austrian canon (or precursors to such thought, such as Bastiat or Spooner)? I don't know if you want to take accessibility into account... but I'm curious to see what ten books the average subscriber to Austrian economics values above all others. I'm sure Human Action is going to dominate the number one spot... but regardless, I want to see.
1. Human Action (Mises)
2. Man, Economy and State (Rothbard)
3. Prices and Production (Hayek)
4. Money, Bank Credit and Economic Cycles (de Soto)
5. Banking and the Business Cycle
6. Capitalism: A Treatise on Economics (Reisman)
7. Depression, War and Cold War (Higgs)
8. A Theory of Socialism and Capitalism (Hoppe)
9. Free Banking (Sechrest)
10. Time and Money (Garrison)
Well Spooner wasn't an Austrian do you mean just Austrian thought or classical liberals? I think ten great works are:
1. Crisis and Leviathan
2. Conceived in Liberty volume
3. The Socialist Tradition
4. Theory and History
5. As We Go Marching
6. Man, Economy, State
7. History of Economic Thought volume
8. Our Enemy, The State
9. The Costs of War
10. Nicomachean Ethics
'It is difficult to imagine any normal person wishing to meet Marx for a third time.' - Alexander Gray, The Socialist Tradition
Laughing Man:Well Spooner wasn't an Austrian do you mean just Austrian thought or classical liberals? I think ten great works are: ... 10. Nicomachean Ethics
...
Aristotle was neither Austrian, nor a classical liberal, nor even a liberal, he is at best a conservative, at worst an outright reactionary.
I am becoming a Burkean Whig.
- F.A. Hayek
Relevance?
To darkness I condemn you...
laminustacitus:Aristotle was neither Austrian, nor a classical liberal, nor even a liberal, he is at best a conservative, at worst an outright reactionary.
Haven't read it, but Roderick Long has an article arguing for (what else?) Austro-Athenian fusion titled “The Classical Roots of Radical Individualism."
Here's the abstract:
While the classical Greco-Roman tradition is not ordinarily thought of as associated with radical individualism, many of the central concerns of such radical individualists as Frédéric Bastiat, Herbert Spencer, Benjamin Tucker, Ludwig von Mises, F. A. Hayek, and Ayn Rand—including their views on human sociality, spontaneous order, and the relation between self-interest and non-instrumental concern for others—are shown to be inheritances from and developments of Platonic, Aristotelian, Epicurean, and Stoic ideas. Hence those working in the classical tradition have reason to explore the radical individualist tradition and vice versa.
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Jon Irenicus: Relevance?
The relevance being is that its neither an Austrian, nor a classical liberal work. One may like Aristotle's ethics, but the minute he talks about the state (i.e. the relevant portions of his ethical works to classical liberalism) he's a reactionary. Classical liberalism, and libertarianism are political ideas that should not give opinions as to personal ethics, which is the only portion of his ethical work I could imagine a classical liberal, or libertarian smiling upon.
Sage: laminustacitus:Aristotle was neither Austrian, nor a classical liberal, nor even a liberal, he is at best a conservative, at worst an outright reactionary. Haven't read it, but Roderick Long has an article arguing for (what else?) Austro-Athenian fusion titled “The Classical Roots of Radical Individualism." Here's the abstract: While the classical Greco-Roman tradition is not ordinarily thought of as associated with radical individualism, many of the central concerns of such radical individualists as Frédéric Bastiat, Herbert Spencer, Benjamin Tucker, Ludwig von Mises, F. A. Hayek, and Ayn Rand—including their views on human sociality, spontaneous order, and the relation between self-interest and non-instrumental concern for others—are shown to be inheritances from and developments of Platonic, Aristotelian, Epicurean, and Stoic ideas. Hence those working in the classical tradition have reason to explore the radical individualist tradition and vice versa.
K. Popper in the first volume of The Open Society and Its Enemies shows how the philosophies of Plato, and then of Aristotle killed any liberal political philosophy in Athens in favor of a more reactionary one.
My own idiosyncratic list of classic and modern books:
1. Human Action2. Man, Economy and State3. The Driving Force of the Market: Essays in Austrian Economics4. Capital and its Structure5. Time, Uncertainty, and Disequilibrium6. The Legacy of Max Weber7. Praxeology and Understanding8. Macro-economic Thinking and the Market Economy9. Capital in Disequilibrium: The Role of Capital in a Changing World10. The Theory of Dynamic Efficiency
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Nobody has mentioned Bohm Bawerk's Capital And Interest.
That's a very important book.
laminustacitus: Laughing Man:Well Spooner wasn't an Austrian do you mean just Austrian thought or classical liberals? I think ten great works are: ... 10. Nicomachean Ethics Aristotle was neither Austrian, nor a classical liberal, nor even a liberal, he is at best a conservative, at worst an outright reactionary.
Emphasis added
Laughing Man: laminustacitus: Laughing Man:Well Spooner wasn't an Austrian do you mean just Austrian thought or classical liberals? I think ten great works are: ... 10. Nicomachean Ethics Aristotle was neither Austrian, nor a classical liberal, nor even a liberal, he is at best a conservative, at worst an outright reactionary. Emphasis added
Please stay on topic, this thread is about ten most essential Austrian works - implying that all the works listed here are relevant to Austrian economics, and the politics associated with it. This is not just a thread for listing ten works one thinks are great - let's keep it on topic.
laminustacitus:Please stay on topic, this thread is about ten most essential Austrian works
Well then what was the reason for bringing up Lysander Spooner. He wasn't an Austrian.
I'm not of the Austrian School, but my favorite Austrian work is:
Individualism and Economic Order - F. A. Hayek
I'm almost embarrassed that no one had it on their list.
"I cannot prove, but am prepared to affirm, that if you take care of clarity in reasoning, most good causes will take care of themselves, while some bad ones are taken care of as a matter of course." -Anthony de Jasay
laminustacitus: Laughing Man: laminustacitus: Laughing Man:Well Spooner wasn't an Austrian do you mean just Austrian thought or classical liberals? I think ten great works are: ... 10. Nicomachean Ethics Aristotle was neither Austrian, nor a classical liberal, nor even a liberal, he is at best a conservative, at worst an outright reactionary. Emphasis added Please stay on topic, this thread is about ten most essential Austrian works - implying that all the works listed here are relevant to Austrian economics, and the politics associated with it. This is not just a thread for listing ten works one thinks are great - let's keep it on topic.
Brennan: In your opinion, what the 10 most essential works within the Austrian canon (or precursors to such thought, such as Bastiat or Spooner)? I don't know if you want to take accessibility into account... but I'm curious to see what ten books the average subscriber to Austrian economics values above all others. I'm sure Human Action is going to dominate the number one spot... but regardless, I want to see.
My favorite online shop: www.cafepress.com/libertyphile
laminustacitus:K. Popper in the first volume of The Open Society and Its Enemies shows how the philosophies of Plato, and then of Aristotle killed any liberal political philosophy in Athens in favor of a more reactionary one
Very interesting. I'd like to read that some day. Do you remember which Athenian thinkers Popper credited as being more liberal?
Human Action Comics Issues 1-6
Lilburne: laminustacitus:K. Popper in the first volume of The Open Society and Its Enemies shows how the philosophies of Plato, and then of Aristotle killed any liberal political philosophy in Athens in favor of a more reactionary one Very interesting. I'd like to read that some day. Do you remember which Athenian thinkers Popper credited as being more liberal?
As an aside, George Soros is a disciple of Karl Popper and advocate of Popper's "open society."
Re: the OP
I think the most essential works to understand are:
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