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Toward a Better Understanding of the Positive/Normative Distinction in Economics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 December 2008

Samuel C. Weston
Samuel C. Weston
Affiliation:
University of Dallas
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Extract

This essay argues in favor of retaining the positive/normative distinction in economics, in spite of developments in methodology and epistemology that have cast doubt on the possibility of a “value-free” economics. The central claim is that it is worthwhile to distinguish between positive economic analysis and normative judgments, even if economics is viewed as being permeated with ethical values. This argument is presented without trying either to demonstrate that there is (or is not) a profound epistemological difference between science and ethics or to show that positive science can (or cannot) afford us access to objective reality.

Type
Essays
Information
Economics & Philosophy , Volume 10 , Issue 1 , April 1994 , pp. 1 - 17
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

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