Action Theory

Bitcoin economic theory, action-based jurisprudence, applied epistemological dualism
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  • Konrad Graf

Communicative action and the disambiguation of law and ethics Jan 2, 2015

“In primitive societies religion, morals, law, customs, [and] manners, exist as an undifferentiated whole. The boundaries between them are hazy and ill-defined. Their respective provinces are distinguished only gradually.” —Henry Hazlitt, The Foundations of Morality ([1964] 2010, 62) I recently came across an interesting piece by Adam Knott from last year, "The dawning of a realization," in which he discusses a theme I brought out in Action-Based Jurisprudence (2011) regarding the need to broaden the application of praxeology beyond economics. This includes the analysis of communicative action from a praxeological standpoint. The latter is something that I picked up mainly...

By Konrad Graf Vote8 0

What it does versus what it is: The helpful fable of the “bitcoin” Dec 26, 2014

Bitcoin is many things, all referenced under the same word. Confusion about its nature and valuation naturally arises from insufficient differentiation of these facets, combined with a general human tendency toward “either/or” thinking. Often, the situation is more “both/and,” which becomes clearer after looking through first impressions and simple or even misleading analogies. A short section of Francis Pouliot’s post on the Bitcoin Foundation of Canada blog caught my attention: “The currency and the network, although conceptually different things, cannot be separated. Bitcoin the network is valuable in itself because of its characteristics and, because you need to obtain bitcoins...

By Konrad Graf Vote6 0

Bitcoin: Magic, fraud, or ‘sufficiently advanced technology’? Sep 19, 2014

Hello world!

By Konrad Graf Vote20 3

Disuse of a rising-value currency? A tale of bitcoins and $500 suits Aug 26, 2014

A common objection to bitcoin is that as its value rises, and especially if it is generally expected to keep rising due to its restricted and inelastic production characteristics, “people will never spend bitcoins; they will just hold onto them waiting for the value to go up, and therefore bitcoin cannot succeed as a currency.” This fallacy commits a number of errors of economic reasoning. For example, it takes one factor, a presumed desire to save bitcoin in the expectation that its exchange value will rise still higher in the future, and treats it as the only factor, even though...

By Konrad Graf Vote11 1

The problem with shouting “Tyranny!” in a crowded theater Aug 21, 2014

This is an excerpt from my “Action-Based Jurisprudence: Praxeological Legal Theory in Relation to Economic Theory, Ethics, and Legal Practice.” Libertarian Papers 3, 19 (2011), pp. 36–37. It is popularly repeated in “civics” type discussions of fundamental rights and responsibilities that one may not shout “Fire!” in a crowded theater. Merely intoning the name of this famous example is thought to be enough to remind or instruct those present that “rights” are not “absolute” and must be “limited.” Before delving into the problems with this reasoning, it may be instructive to understand the shady history of the example. The original...

By Konrad Graf Vote6 0

Another layer of distinction behind Tucker’s humanitarians and brutalists Aug 1, 2014

Jeffrey Tucker’s article “Against Libertarian Brutalism” (12 March 2014) describes two broadly drawn ideal types within the libertarian movement. After summarizing these, I will suggest what I think is a more fundamental distinction to illuminate the background to these proposed ideal types: the legal and the ethical must be more carefully disentangled. They are separate fields with distinct methods and subject matters. Either/or must give way to yes/and when it comes to working with such multiple fields, each of which has valuable and distinct insights to offer. Tucker’s “humanitarians” are said to be drawn to and consider liberty in a...

By Konrad Graf Vote2 0

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