Hans-Hermann Hoppe
Life and Work
- 2. September 1949
- living
- Generation 5
Stations
- 1968–1974Studies in Philosophy/Sociology/History/Economics— approximate
Studies at Saarland University (Saarbrücken), Goethe University Frankfurt, and the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) in philosophy, sociology, history and economics.[1]
- 1974Doctorate in Philosophy under Habermas
Doctorate in philosophy at Goethe University Frankfurt under Jürgen Habermas (1974).[1]
- 1976–1978Postdoctoral Fellowship, University of Michigan— approximate
Postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (1976–1978).[1]
- 1981Habilitation in Frankfurt
Habilitation in sociology and economics at Goethe University Frankfurt (1981).[1]
- 1981–1985Teaching at German Universities and Johns Hopkins (Bologna)— approximate
Teaching at several German universities as well as at the Johns Hopkins University Bologna Center before moving to the United States.[1]
- 1983"Kritik der kausalwissenschaftlichen Sozialforschung" (Critique of Causal-Scientific Social Research)
With "Kritik der kausalwissenschaftlichen Sozialforschung" (Critique of Causal-Scientific Social Research; 1983), Hoppe made a significant contribution to the refutation of empiricism and positivism. Causal-scientific social research, he argued, is logically impossible.
- 1986Move to the United States— inferred
Went to the United States early for study purposes and became a longtime student of Murray N. Rothbard.
- 1986–2008Professorship, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
From 1986, Professor of Economics at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), in close collaboration with Murray N. Rothbard. As a long-standing student, he took over the chair after Rothbard's death in 1995. Retired in 2008.[1]
- 1989"A Theory of Socialism and Capitalism"
In "A Theory of Socialism and Capitalism" (1989), Hoppe defined socialism as an institutionalised procedure of aggression against property.
- 2001"Democracy: The God That Failed"
With "Democracy: The God That Failed" (2001), Hoppe further developed his central idea and extended it with a fundamental critique of democracy.
- 2006Founding of the Property and Freedom Society
In May 2006 in Bodrum (Turkey), founding of the Property and Freedom Society as a libertarian discussion forum committed to intellectual radicalism in the Mises-Rothbard tradition.[1]
Influences
- 1969–1981Jürgen Habermas(1929–2026) · Frankfurter Schule
Hoppe completed his dissertation in 1974 and his Habilitation in 1981 in the field of philosophy under Jürgen Habermas at the Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main. In the years that followed he distanced himself decisively from the Frankfurt School and, with Argumentation Ethics, developed an a priori grounding of private property that takes up Habermas's discourse-pragmatic method but leads to opposite conclusions: according to Hoppe, every argumentative dispute presupposes exclusive ownership of one's own body and of scarce means. The argument is found centrally in “A Theory of Socialism and Capitalism” (1989) and “The Economics and Ethics of Private Property” (1993).[1]
- 1986–1995
Hoppe went to the USA for the purpose of study and became a long-standing student of Murray N. Rothbard; he eventually took over his chair at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.[1]
- —Karl-Otto Apel(1922–2017) · Diskursethik
Apel's discourse ethics shaped Hoppe's later Argumentation Ethics; Apel was a central philosophical point of reference during his Frankfurt years of study.[2]
- 1986–1995
From 1986 Hoppe and Rothbard worked together at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas; after Rothbard's death in 1995 Hoppe took over his chair.
Hans-Hermann Hoppe in the context of the School as a whole: five generations, their teacher-student lineages, circles and collegial ties.
Show in the family tree →SOURCES ON STATIONS AND RELATIONSHIPS13 citations · 3 sources
- [1]Mises Institute: Hans-Hermann Hoppe · 10×
- [2]Hoppe: A Theory of Socialism and Capitalism (Argumentationsethik mit Apel-Bezug)
Places of Activity
The Books
- Ökonomik als Wissenschaft und die Methode der Österreichischen SchuleOriginalGerman
- Demokratie: Der Gott, der keiner istOriginalGerman
Essays, Reviews, Lectures
- APA
- Hans-Hermann Hoppe. (n.d.). Edited by mises.at and scholarium. Accessed October 8, 2026, from https://mises.co/hans-hermann-hoppe
- Chicago
- “Hans-Hermann Hoppe.” n.d. Edited by mises.at and scholarium. Accessed October 8, 2026. https://mises.co/hans-hermann-hoppe.
- German historical style
- Hans-Hermann Hoppe, edited by mises.at and scholarium, https://mises.co/hans-hermann-hoppe (accessed October 8, 2026).