Rational Action

The fundamental thesis of rationalism is unassailable. Man is a rational being; that is, his actions are guided by reason.

Theory and History, p. 269

Rational and irrational always mean: reasonable or not from the point of view of the ends sought. There is no such thing as absolute rationality or irrationality.

Omnipotent Government, p. 113

The assertion that there is irrational action is always rooted in an evaluation of a scale of values different from our own. Whoever says that irrationality plays a role in human action is merely saying that his fellow men behave in a way that he does not consider correct.

Epistemological Problems of Economics, p. 33

Rational conduct means that man, in face of the fact that he cannot satisfy all his impulses, desires, and appetites, forgoes the satisfaction of those which he considers less urgent.

Human Action, pp. 171–72; p. 172

Action is, by definition, always rational. One is unwarranted in calling goals of action irrational simply because they are not worth striving for from the point of view of one’s own valuations.

Epistemological Problems of Economics, p. 35