Mises opens the philosophical half of the course by arguing that Marx’s materialism—the claim that a person’s economic class shapes his very ideas and logic—dominates modern thought, and he begins to dismantle it.

Richard M. Ebeling recalls the world of 1952, when socialism seemed ascendant everywhere, summarizes Marx’s system of historical materialism and class struggle, and introduces Mises as one of its most formidable critics.

Mises defends his use of the word: true liberalism is defined by private ownership of the means of production, and he explains why he keeps the name despite its distorted modern usage.

Mises's guided reading list of the essential works of liberal thought, from Hume, Smith, and Bentham onward, for readers who want to study the tradition in depth.

Mises argues that modern civilization rests on liberalism and capitalism, and can be destroyed only from within—by the spread of antiliberal ideas, not by any outside enemy.

Why liberalism differs from interest-based parties, the crisis of parliamentary government, and the misleading charge that liberalism is merely the “party of capital.”

Liberalism applied to world affairs: national self-determination, free trade and freedom of movement as the foundations of peace, and critiques of nationalism, imperialism, and colonialism.

The economic case for private property and the free market, including the impracticability of socialism, the failures of interventionism, and the problems of cartels, monopoly, and bureaucracy.

The first principles of liberal politics—private property, freedom, peace, and equality before the law—with a critique of the doctrine of force, fascism, and the proper limits of government.

Mises defines liberalism as a program for material welfare grounded in reason, ties it to capitalism, and examines the psychological roots of antiliberal resentment.