Values as consequences of transaction: commentary on 'Reconciling homo economicus and John Dewey's ethics'

Frank Ryan

Journal of Economic Methodology, 2001, vol. 10, issue 2, 245-257

Abstract: Mark White hopes to incorporate John Dewey's appeal to deliberation in preference formation into the neoclassical model of choice. White finds affinities between Dewey and neoclassicism: both reject preordained goals, value consequences above motives, and promote 'scientific ethics.' I claim Dewey's actual theory of value and choice is more radically divergent, and may not simply be integrated with neoclassical model. Specifically, I claim: 1) White's interactional view of agents acting in an environment falls short of Dewey's transactional notion of their reciprocal determination within problem-solving activity; 2) beyond both preference and deliberation, the consequence of valuation activity is the final determinant of a good; 3) Dewey did not advocate relinquishing ethics to the natural and social sciences, but rather viewed moral behavior as the cultivation of a unique 'art.'

Keywords: Neoclassical Model Of Choice; Problem-solving Activity; Interaction Vs. Transaction; Consequences Of Deliberation; Value As Valuation Activity; Fact-value Dichotomy; Ethics And Science (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2001
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DOI: 10.1080/1350178032000071101

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