He uses the phrase "felt uneasiness" am I not correct or is only some action based on satisfying felt uneasiness while some action is not for instance, when a person steps forward it is more likely due to a variety of other passions than uneasiness (maybe joy at seeing something you like?). Or is the phrase "felt uneasiness" simply a stand-in for "will-to-an-end that is not yet actualized but is potential?"
If that is true than the word satisfaction probably means -in the context of this supposed emotional context of words -pleasure or relief of pain. But again there are actions which don't aim particularly at pleasure -like going to church; the pleasure gained there is not the same pleasure you get from a good glass of wine for instance.
But you maintain it is still pleasure. Anyway, it is unactualised potential, ends that have yet to be accomplished, things the agent wants done to feel closer to a cessation of being faced with wants of varying degrees (not necessarily to avoid pain or misery but just to align the world more closely to the agent's will.)
Freedom of markets is positively correlated with the degree of evolution in any society...
it's a relative discomfort. Also, avoid analyzing actions in a vacuum: the one step is part of a sequence of steps towards some ultimate satisfaction.
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David Z
"The issue is always the same, the government or the market. There is no third solution."
Ask yourself this:
Does person X feel that he will feel more or less "uneasy" after he takes the step forward. Obviously, as has already been pointed out, the step is just one of many to reach satisfaction. But as the great poet Jagger said; I can't get no satisfaction. Obviously we can't apply Jagger's words universaly, "no satisfaction" would mean that there is no reason to act, whereas full satisfaction also renders action unneccesary. Action is merely the means to satisfy uneasiness to a certain extent, as being fully satisfied is not possible for human beings (we need to eat, drink, sleep and so on, so there's always some uneasiness to satisfy). I think Mises points this out aswell, would we feel completely satisfied, there would be no action.
yeah but my problem is with the word "uneasy" is mises refering to the emotion of pain or anxiety or is he refering to a general state of imperfection or unachieved potential?
If mises meant the former it would imply to me that he's saying that all action is based on removing the particular emotions anxiety and pain (although there are many actions done to erase things like boredom or in the ascetic case physical pleasures and also some emotions like joy are actually stimulated rather than used to subsume emotions like pain).
To sum up, I'm asking for the definition of the word uneasy.
fakename:yeah but my problem is with the word "uneasy" is mises refering to the emotion of pain or anxiety or is he refering to a general state of imperfection or unachieved potential?
I don't think that he meant either of those. My reading of his usage is that a person's felt unease is a state of affairs he deems unsatisfactory. He will act to remedy this situation, to make the state of affairs less unsatisfactory. I don't think we need to talk about any notions of 'perfection' (which is impossible) and that of 'unachieved potential', it's simpler than that. The critera by which he deems a state of affairs unsatisfactory is not relevant to the discussion of action.
This is my understanding, at least.
I think it's better to work backwards for this one. Everything you do voluntarily is for a reason - you believe doing so will accomplish an end, fill a gap, increase your security or pleasure, continue your way of life or standard of living. In these cases, uneasiness would be "a pain in your foot", to which your mind adds through reason the uneasiness of "lack of aspirin" due to which your mind creates and perceives the uneasiness of "distance to medicine cabinet" to which your mind adds "discomfort of taking a pill without water" to which your mind adds the uneasiness of drinking a temperature of water you dislike (so you run water for a while) which soon gives way to the uneasiness of impatience and lack of aspirine.....
You go to work because you can reason that getting kicked out of your apartment in a few months will be uncomfortable. I suppose this would be uneasiness over anxiety of future uneasiness...