Ludwig von Mises
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). Having already seen that human action arises from the purposes of individual human beings, we can now begin to trace the full practical implications of this fundamental knowledge. We shall start by examining an individual in isolation: Robinson Crusoe, providing for himself on a desert island. In this simplified context, the precise meaning of concepts usually associated with an advanced economy, such as ends and means, production, consumption, value, and capital, will become clear as we see how they apply to a lone individual. We shall then introduce a second individual, Friday, to Crusoe's island, examining the patterns of interaction that result as each of them pursues his own purposes. 
