Theoretical History

Examples

Hans-Hermann Hoppe

"Hans-Hermann Hoppe is a master of theoretical history. He tells us that it is not my purpose here to engage in standard history, i.e., history as it is written by historians, but to off er a logical or sociological reconstruction of history, informed by actual historical events, but motivated more fundamentally by theoretical — philosophical and economic — concerns.

The work of Carl Menger and Ludwig von Mises on the commodity origin of money is a prime example of what Hoppe has in mind. In carrying out his illuminating project, Hoppe finds himself in opposition to the dominant way of looking at the evolution of government. According to this perspective, government has over the centuries become ever more democratic. Rule by the people is the final form of government; once it has been reached, history, at least as far as government is concerned, has ended. Th is historical movement, further, is a “good thing.” It is the triumph of freedom. History is the story of progress. Hoppe is not a complete pessimist like the “Gloomy Dean” W.R. Inge, who, in his famous Romanes Lecture of 1920, denounced “the superstition of progress.” To the contrary, Hoppe thinks that in economic life, the Industrial Revolution enabled mankind to achieve an unprecedented level of prosperity. In government, though, matters are entirely different, and here Hoppe is a firm opponent of progressive orthodoxy. For him, rather, history in this area is a tale of a fall — not from the Garden of Eden but rather from a reasonable way of settling disputes."

(https://cdn.mises.org/From%20Aristocracy%20to%20Monarchy%20to%20Democracy_Hoppe_Text%202014.pdf)