Autore: Leube, Kurt R.
Titolo: On the principle of 'Wertfreiheit' preliminary remarks on the positions of Miles, Kelsen and Weber (part 1)
Periodico: International Center for Economics Research, Torino. ICER - Working papers series
Anno: 2000 - Fascicolo: 21 - Pagina iniziale: 1 - Pagina finale: 28

Although the problems associated with the principle of "Wertfreiheit" (value freedom) in the social sciences are rather old, this subject proved to be controversial over the time. Quite often it is maintained that it serves to defend the 'status quo' by shielding the technical rationality of a capitalistic society from critical analysis. This however is a somewhat weak position. Nevertheless, currently the majority view seems to be that ethical neutrality in the study of social phenomena is a real possibility and constitutes one of the hallmarks of a true social science. One of the reasons for this widespread acceptance of the idea is that the meaning of the term "Wertfreiheit" has today been reduced to a short and simple formula. The core of the doctrine is now generally held to be the thesis that it is impossible to use the means of scince to demonstrate the correctness of any particular moral or political position. This thesis is generally supported by referring to the argument that it is logically impermissible to attempt to derive an ought from an is. Scince is concerned with what "is", and it is thus logically incapable of determining what "ought" to be. Among many other topics this was an important theme during the famous debate over the problem of value freedom which took place in Vienna in September 1909. At this session scholars attemted to settle the dispute. However due to its disorganized and totally unexpected character, it was viewed as unsatisfactory by all scholars involved. Chiefly due to the Austrian School's methodological orientation and the normative conclusions it reaches, the school was considerably at variance from the prevailing Zeitgeist, both in the academic economic profession and in the arena of public policy.





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