Besserung der Welt durch Ethisierung der Ökonomik? Anmerkung zu dem Buch von Thomas Sedlacek: Die Ökonomie von Gut und Böse

Meyer Wilhelm

ORDO. Jahrbuch für die Ordnung von Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft, 2014, vol. 65, issue 1, 387-412

Abstract: The book of Tomas Sedlacek, Economics of Good and Evil, has in my view, merits and flaws. He demands a reintegration of economics with ethics. For anyone who accepts a noncognitivist ethic the demand to conjoin facts and values in order to produce knowledge makes no sense. If economics will be a science it must be a valuefree positive science in the sense of Max Weber and Hans Albert. Sedlacek argues that Smiths Theory of moral Sense is a book about ethics. I demonstrate that the author is wrong. Furthermore it is not correct to tell the reader that Smith believed actions motivated by selflove cannot but be unethical. I demonstrate the contrary opinion of Smith. The critique of economics is sometimes overdone, yet sometimes acceptable. Utility theory cannot explain all behaviour, it lacks, for example, a proper regard of the context of behaviour. Sedlacek makes a very good point arguing that any theory of economic behavior will, if believed by the people, have an effect on the moral relevant attitudes of the people. If ecomics tells us that all people are really selfish, people will react and will become perhaps overly distrustful. But instead to demand for economics enriched by ethics one has to demand for better, i.e. more true theories of behaviour. Ethics belongs to the family, the school, the sports club, the firm, the legislater, the church: It is indispensable, and a convincing ethics can change our behaviour. So one should call for a better ethics if the ruling one can be criticised. Further, if one can show that economics propagates unethical behavior for economic agents, philosopher and ecomists may protest.

Date: 2014
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DOI: 10.1515/ordo-2014-0120

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