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what is marginal utility really?

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fakename posted on Sun, Jul 26 2009 1:24 PM

I was trying to figure out the difference between this idea and the idea of prices and exchange.  So far this is what I got:

 

prices are ratios between cost and benefit that occur whenever action is taken, marginal utility is how these ratios form when actions are taken, given choice and whatnot, and exchange is basically action itself.

 

I would also like to start a discussion on something that caught my eye.  If praxeology deals with action, and some thoughts are actions, then does praxeology deal with thoughts too?  Perhaps not a valid syllogism but still, it is tempting...

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fakename:

I was trying to figure out the difference between this idea and the idea of prices and exchange.  So far this is what I got:

 

prices are ratios between cost and benefit that occur whenever action is taken, marginal utility is how these ratios form when actions are taken, given choice and whatnot, and exchange is basically action itself.

 

I would also like to start a discussion on something that caught my eye.  If praxeology deals with action, and some thoughts are actions, then does praxeology deal with thoughts too?  Perhaps not a valid syllogism but still, it is tempting...

It is only through action that we can ascertain the subjective desires of individuals. We do not know if someone likes chocolate cake unless they buy chocolate cake ( in an economic sense ). Can praxeology be applied to philosophical deduction? I think so but some disagree. I think a priorism can apply to all social sciences.

'Men do not change, they unmask themselves' - Germaine de Stael

 

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fakename replied on Mon, Jul 27 2009 10:15 PM

I'm interested by what you mean by philosophical deduction? Isn't praxeology philosophical deduction -in as much as it is logical it is philosophical and it is obviously deduction too?

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