Since 1949, there have been many attempts to create a systematic Study Guide to Human Action but they all faltered in some way. The creator became exhausted or lacked the requisite training or understanding to adequately summarize Mises, or for some other reason. So, while it seems incredible, we’ve been without a study guide to his book for nearly 60 years.
Robert Murphy, who did the guide to Man, Economy, and State, is attempting to rectify the matter with his own study guide. He has chosen to break the guide down into several parts: 1) chapter summary, 2) a section on why the content matters, 3) technical notes, and 4) study questions.
His first attempts are now available for chapters I and II. Have a look and send in your comments or critiques. Now is the time to weigh in !
Human Action Study Guide Chapter I
Human Action Study Guide Chapter II
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This is so awesome! Thank you Robert Murphy for taking this task at hand. I only wish I had this study guide when I was a freshman in college. This is a great study tool for anyone trying to read Human Action. Human Action is an awesome book with so much to pay attention to that a student can easily become frusterated and never pick up the book again, but with this study guide (just by looking at chapters 1 and 2) students of the Austrian School will have an easier time understanding and conceptualizing the ideas that Mises laid out in Human Action.
Thank you Robert Murphy for pursuing the quest for Truth and helping others understand that Truth. And thank you Mises Institute for everything you’ve done for me as a Student of the Austrian School.
This is so awesome! Thank you Robert Murphy for taking this task at hand. I only wish I had this study guide when I was a freshman in college. This is a great study tool for anyone trying to read Human Action. Human Action is an awesome book with so much to pay attention to that a student can easily become frusterated and never pick up the book again, but with this study guide (just by looking at chapters 1 and 2) students of the Austrian School will have an easier time understanding and conceptualizing the ideas that Mises laid out in Human Action.
Thank you Robert Murphy for pursuing the quest for Truth and helping others understand that Truth. And thank you Mises Institute for everything you’ve done for me as a Student of the Austrian School including this great study guide to Human Action.
This is so awesome! Thank you Robert Murphy for taking this task at hand. I only wish I had this study guide when I was a freshman in college. This is a great study tool for anyone trying to read Human Action. Human Action is an awesome book with so much to pay attention to that a student can easily become frusterated and never pick up the book again, but with this study guide (just by looking at chapters 1 and 2) students of the Austrian School will have an easier time understanding and conceptualizing the ideas that Mises laid out in Human Action.
Thank you Robert Murphy for pursuing the quest for Truth and helping others understand that Truth. And thank you Mises Institute for everything you’ve done for me as a Student of the Austrian School including this great study guide to Human Action.
Great timing. I just got a copy of Human Action for Christmas, and I will be sure to read over this as I go along.
I am about 188 pages into “Human Action” and can definately appreciate the usefulness of a study guide. I have the 3rd revised edition rather than the Scholar’s Edition, but I imagine there shouldn’t be that much of a difference, other than with page number references.
Thank you! I recently upgraded to the Scholar’s Edition (having previously picked up a paperback version of Human Action, an event which changed my life for the better) and having a study guide will no doubt help when I read this book a second time. But first I have to finish reading de Soto’s wonderful treatise on money and banking, which I could recommend more highly based on the 600 pages I’ve already completed!
Apoligies to Dr. de Soto, I could *not* recommend a book more highly!
Yow! Great work, Dr. Murphy! I can’t wait for you to get to Chapter XVII (Indirect Exchange), where I’m kinda bogged down.
This is a great idea… I’ve read the two summaries, and I think many people may now be able to approach HA much more comfortably… how long for the other 37?
P.S. O.T. Blind persons use internet through vocal recognition and synthesis… optical captchas, like the one on the bottom of this form, make them unable to interact with the site… may be a question such as “how many feet is a three-feet-long object long?” is equally effective against spam without causing problems to blind men… anticipate government before an Internet-for-all Act!
That’s great news to hear that you’re working on a Study Guide for Human Action, Dr. Murphy. I purchased your Guide for MES when I bought Rothbard’s treatise, and this new project you’re working on, once completed, will surely make an excellent accompaniment to Mises’s book.
As Jeff Tucker remarked, it’s amazing that there has not been something like this published already, so I await with anticipation the publication of this guide as it’s long, long overdue.
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