Scientism and Values.pdf - Ludwig von Mises Institute

Objectivity and Social Science 23
The problem of objectivity is indistinguishable from the problem
of reality. It involves such questions as: What is the universe
made of? Where did this something come from? Has it always
existed or was it cre.ated? What is change, does anything new come
into existence with it, and how does change occur? What is
permanence, and could there be any change unless. there were
permanence? What are past and future, and how much do we
know of what we are talking about when we talk about them?
In addition to questions of being and of the sources and nature
and purposes of being, objectivity involves two other classes of
questions. One of these has to do with the problem of correct
method in dealing with any question. This is the field of logic.
The third has to do with the question how we know anything.
This is the field of epistemology.
We are not bringing any new knowledge into the world when
we say these things. They are, or ought to be, well known, and
there would be no excuse for taking time to talk about them here
if all of the important assumptions of modern scholarship and
science were practiced as well as preached. One of the most important
of these assumptions is that learning is a co-operative
effort, that the field in which labor is needed is so large and
diverse that division and specialization are required, and that
work in one field may safely be used as a foundation for work in
another. It will be shown here that there is room for grave doubt
about the last clause in this, assumption.
In the field of epistemology, the questions that may be asked
may be regarded as comprising three classes. One has to do with
extension and motion and figure and number, generally referred
to as the primary qualities of objects. One has to do with color
and odor and sound and taste and tactile impressions, generally
referred to as the secondary qualities of objects. And one has to do
with all such matters as fairness, impartiality, justice, and goodness,
which are commonly referred to as values. But what value
is, whether it is a quality or a relation or something else; whether
it is a simple, unanalyzable, indefinable, nonnatural something;
whether it is created by interest and conferred by interest on
objects-all are questions of extreme controversy.