Scientism and Values.pdf - Ludwig von Mises Institute

Social Science Versus the Obsession of "Scientism" 231
society exists, remains, articulate, and is capable of disagreement.
Freedom is an undefined abstraction which refers to many different
and often incongruous situations. It is in the nature of a synoptic
description, like the term, "health," except that it refers to a
far larger number of elements. In much the same way as a dying
man still has healthy organs, freedom is never completely extinguished
in all human areas. Just as the disease of a vital organ terminates
health, so nonfreedom or too little freedom denotes the
lack of freedom as such. Thus, freedom is not merely a matter of
degrees, but also of quality.
Whenever we speak of "freedom," we really imply "more" or
"less" freedom. Thus, we are dealing with a notion which is inherently
measurable, or which, in any case, contains many measurable
elements. It is possible to measure freedom. 7 Keeping in. mind
the distinction between the basic types of freedom, we would then
have to measure:
(1) the legal constraints imposed upon an individual's freedom
of action;
(2) the capabilities at the individual's disposal and rates of
change of constraints and capabilities;
(3) the utilization of these capabilities both in terms of de facto
use and of responsible behavior;
(4) the human results of such capabilities utilized.
Freedom is far broader than simple political rights, however important
those may be. It can be considered independently of specific
aspects of political organization, as it must be if it is indeed
a structural element of society as, a whole. But, in addition to paying
attention to the intents, causes, modes, and limits of individual
behavior, we also must know the results of such action. It is, after
all, not the institution which counts, but its yield. Once we know
the yield, we possess a yardstick for evaluating organizational and
institutional structure and performance. How much freedom did
the institution produce? And at what price? This is the heart of
the matter.