The Boundaries of Technique : Ordering Positive and Normative Concerns in Economic Research

The Boundaries of Technique offers an account of economics as a purposive - that is, human - enterprise. It draws on a thorough account of human action in the work of Saint Thomas Aquinas and Aristotle. Both authors give an account of reason in human action, and the place of technique in moral life.

In this engaging and thought-provoking new work, Andrew Yuengert uses the moral philosophy of Thomas Aquinas to offer a fresh perspective on the sharp distinctions currently drawn between economics and ethics. In contract to modern philosophical approaches, which focus on the contrast between is and ought statements, a Thomistic analysis begins with the actions of economic researchers. This approach reconciles two popular extreme positions: economics as ethical at every turn, and economics as morally neutral. Exploring recent controversies over the role of ethics in economics, The Boundaries of Technique encourages scholars and students to discover and debate the ways in which economics is insulated from ethics, and the ways in which it is dependent upon it. Ultimately, by bringing readers to a deeper awareness of the intrinsic involvement of the individual and the responsibility of moral choice, Yuengert makes an invaluable contriubtion to the study and practice of economics.