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An Anti-Intellectual Intellectual—Hoppe Interview in Indonesian

An Anti-Intellectual Intellectual—Hoppe Interview in Indonesian

Just out: Interview with Hans-Hermann Hoppe, an Anti-Intellectual Intellectual, the English translation of Hans-Hermann Hoppe: Potret Intelektual Anti-Intelektual, an interview by Sukasah Syahdan in Akal dan Kehendak, or "Reason and Will", an online weekly Journal on Liberty, Indonesia.

Syahdan observes in his introduction: "Anyone familiar with his ideas will without hesitation dub him the world's sharpest critic alive of most paradigmatic isms, such as socialism, communism and fascism. He is also a loud voice amid the barren and quiet desert of critical insight into 'empiricism,' the method he thinks largely inadequate for application in social studies. In an age where mechanistic views toward social phenomena have become a trademark for mainstream intellectuals, Hoppe has been a towering figure, calling himself an intellectual anti-intellectual."

An excerpt from the interview:

A&K: What are the three things you value most dearly in life, Prof.?
HHH: Truth, justice, and beauty.
A&K: And three things you abhor?
HHH: The opposite of truth, justice, and beauty. And more specifically: ''political correctness,'' moral cowardice and opportunism. ...
A&K: ... In just a few words, what's the prospect of Austrianism?
HHH: I cannot but hope that the truth represented by Austrianism will ultimately win over falsehood and illusion. But even if that were not the case, I still consider it to be my duty to fight for it as long as I can.

Asked about rumours a new book is in the works, Hoppe replied: "Yes I am working on a large book project, which I anticipate to take me at least 5 years to complete. Therein I want, first, to restate and elaborate on my previous work (early on in my career in German, and later on in English) in the fields of epistemology and ethics — or, more generally: the nature of human rationality; and then, secondly, I want to offer a systematic and interdisciplinary reconstruction of human history (pre-history, huntergatherer societies, agricultural societies, industrial societies) where I will draw on and largely expand on ideas first sketched in my 10 lecture series Economy, Society, and History, delivered a few years ago at the Mises Institute (and available on the internet)."

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