Morality and value neutrality in economics: a dualist view - Archive ouverte HAL Access content directly
Journal Articles Journal of Philosophical Economics Year : 2019

Morality and value neutrality in economics: a dualist view

Abstract

This paper proposes a dualist view that economics exhibits the properties of both moral science and value-neutral approach, regardless of the normative-positive distinction. Our argumentation is derived from the understanding that, analytically, economics is a broadly-defined rational choice theory. As implied by this claim, on the one hand, economics behaves as a moral science for two main reasons: all economic theories and policy discussions are necessarily based on moral premises about means-end considerations; economics as an analytical approach can be and has been applied to explanations of a wide range of moral phenomena. On the other hand, since economists — without being informed of some ethical presuppositions of higher order — cannot deal with the comparisons among different value criteria, their approach remains neutral regarding judgmental positions, which should be given a priori to make economic enquiries possible. Ultimately, by this view we reconcile morality with value neutrality in economics, without slicing the discipline into two distinctive branches.
Fichier principal
Vignette du fichier
8392.pdf (2.23 Mo) Télécharger le fichier
Origin : Explicit agreement for this submission

Dates and versions

hal-03710958 , version 1 (01-07-2022)

Licence

Attribution - NonCommercial - ShareAlike

Identifiers

Cite

Cheng Li. Morality and value neutrality in economics: a dualist view. Journal of Philosophical Economics, 2019, Volume XII Issue 2 (2), pp.75-118. ⟨10.46298/jpe.10725⟩. ⟨hal-03710958⟩
37 View
87 Download

Altmetric

Share

Gmail Facebook Twitter LinkedIn More