Value Judgements and Ideology: Morality and Prejudice in Economic Science

Few issues in the social sciences arouse emotions and controversy as strongly as the application of the concepts of moral judgement and ideological prejudice to the methods and substance of social theory. Yet few concepts are as frequently confused and misconstrued as these two concepts, by a large number of social scientists. These two observations are consistent, not contradictory. For, in general, the greater the confusion about a controversial subject, the stronger the degree of friction, and the heat which this generates.