Freeman

ARTICLE

History

SEPTEMBER 01, 1981 by LUDWIG VON MISES

No laboratory experiments can be performed with regard to human action. We are never in a position to observe the change in one element only, all other conditions of the event remaining unchanged. Historical experience as an experience of complex phenomena does not provide us with facts in the sense in which the natural sciences employ this term to signify isolated events tested in experiments. The information conveyed by historical experience cannot be used as building material for the construction of theories and the prediction of future events. Every historical experience is open to various interpretations, and is in fact interpreted in different ways. History speaks only to those people who know how to interpret it on the ground of correct theories.

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September 1981

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