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A methodological note on ethics, economics, and the justification of action

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Abstract

Two disciplines claim to provide justification of action. Ethics gives you moral reasons to act upon, whereas economics exploits the concept of rationality. The paper discusses two theories of interdisciplinarity of ethics and economics in order to clarify the relationship. The traditional view of a hierarchical ordering of ethics and economics is rejected, and it is claimed that there are substantial economic contributions to ethical justification.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics, University of Bristol, BS9 1TN, Bristol, U.K.

    Hans-Peter Weikard

  2. Institut für Agrarökonomie, Universität Göttingen, Platz der Göttinger Sieben 5, D-3400, Göttingen, Germany

    Hans-Peter Weikard

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  1. Hans-Peter Weikard
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Weikard, HP. A methodological note on ethics, economics, and the justification of action. J Agric Environ Ethics 5, 183–188 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01966359

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