The Laws of Human Relationships and of the Rules to be Derived Therefrom for Human Action

Hermann Heinrich Gossen. Entwicklung der Gesetze des menschlichen Verkehrs und der daraus fliessenden Regeln für menschliches Handeln. Introduced by Friedrich A. Hayek. 3rd edition. Berlin: Prager, 1927, xxiii, 278 pp.

“The Laws of Human Relationships and of the Rules to be Derived Therefrom for Human Action.” Cf.: A-15. Gossen’s (1810–1858) fame rests on this one book, first published in 1854, in which he developed a comprehensive theory of the hedonistic calculus and postulated the principle of diminishing marginal utility. He thereby anticipated the marginal utility breakthrough in the theory of economic value in 1871 by Menger, Jevons, and Walras.

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