Page:Philosophical Review Volume 2.djvu/378

364 economics are specified as follows: (1) The Place of Economics in Social Science. Economics is distinguished from the other social sciences as the science of relative values. Economics deals with simpler and more calculable elements, but it must not be given undue prominence over the other social sciences which deal with incalculable elements. (2) Method of Studying it. There are three methods : first, the method which studies what tends to be; second, the Historical, which studies what is and what has been and third, the Ethical, which studies what ought to be. The study of tendencies must always form a larger part of economic science. It must be understood that it is only tendencies that we are studying, and their moral values should be constantly kept in mind. Economic tendencies are neither laws of nature nor moral imperatives. They must conform to human reason. If they be tendencies towards evil, their direction may be changed. (3) The Relative Importance of Different Parts of Economic Science. Consumption is the central point in economic theory. The older Economists under the influence of the 'fallacy of saving' advocated a minimum of consumption and failed to discriminate between good and evil consumption. What is desired is not to suppress wants but to direct them wisely. The development theory in ethics teaches us that goods have not merely subjective value as ministering to the desires of individuals, but also objective or intrinsic value, which has reference to the power of different kinds of objects – to promote self-realization. In dealing with consumption from an ethical point of view, there are two main considerations: (a) the importance of the wants which are satisfied in the act of consumption; (b) the effect of the supply of the means of satisfying these wants upon the life of the producer. (4) Practical Application of Economic Doctrine. Having determined the directions of the various tendencies, we must ask where we ought to go. Here we must be guided on the one hand by the value of different goods, determined by purely theoretical considerations, and on the other hand by our conception of economic justice. Society is an organic whole. In such a whole there can be no absolute freedom of parts. Justice here is a reciprocity of services. Each individual is at once end and means. There are two great economic imperatives, "Thou shalt not exploit" and "Thou shalt not pauperize." We must steer clear of both abstract individualism and abstract humanism. We must have concrete thought on the basis of the conception of society as an organic whole. The larger interests must be made as clear as self-interest has already been made.

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