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About this quote

What does it mean?
Mises warns against assuming epistemological methods from one field apply to all others, calling it a superstition.
In plain terms
Don't assume methods from one field of knowledge work everywhere.
What can you take from it?
Different fields require different ways of knowing.

Where it applies

  • academic research
  • scientific methodology

Putting it to work

  • match methods to fields
  • avoid methodological overreach

Questions to consider

  • When do methods apply elsewhere?
  • What limits knowledge methods?

Another view

This risks over-segmenting knowledge.

More from Ludwig von Mises

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  3. Facts per se can neither prove nor refute anything. Everything is decided by the interpretation and explanation of the facts, by the ideas and the theories.

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