« Ladder of Inference | Main | The Politicized Abuse of Iraqi Prisoners »

First Thoughts on Economic Value

The problem of economic value is unresolved and remains at the heart of economic debates. To many modern economist, value is subjectively determined by the individual – beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. This relativism leads to a measureless system of values in which goodness and satisfaction can only be ranked as “better” or “worse” on the basis of individual preference. I found the following description useful.

Because biblical cosmic personalism is true, there can be a resolution to the philosophical problem of the seeming contradiction between subjective and objective knowledge. In economics, this contradiction is seen most clearly in the debates over objective and subjective value. The Bible's objective value theory is grounded in the objective Person of God -- His declarations, standards, and evaluations. God's subjective declaration of value to His objective creation -- "it is good" -- and His objective declarations of blessings and cursings in history indicate that subjectivism and objectivism are correlative. They are grounded in the objective character of God's subjective declarations. The mind of man is capable of making objective evaluations of external conditions because his mind reflects God's mind. He is made in God's image. His evaluations become progressively accurate as they approach God's evaluations as a limit. He thinks God's thought after Him.

Inheritance and Dominion, Appendix B

Posted by tim at May 13, 2004 12:30 PM

Articles Related to Economics: