The Relation Between Social Theory and Social Policy
Author(s)
Myrdal, Gunnar
Abstract
The social sciences are expected to discover and analyze truths about various aspects of human experience. The motivation for such work is to contribute to human welfare. This paper focuses on the roles of trust and responsibility in economic life. The first section considers the possibility that, if a social science theory undermines welfare by ridiculing a reliance on such important contributors as responsibility and trust, this should raise a question as to whether there is something wrong with the theory. The second section explores particular areas of economic life where the importance of responsibility and trust are especially evident. The third section speculates on how concern for environmental values may assist in bringing the future home to the present. And in the fourth section the focus shifts to a consideration of how social conflicts of interest are handled in part by norms and in part by force. Finally, the author suggests some directions in which we need to shape the social sciences (with economics especially in mind) to make them more useful in conceptualizing our social goals and suggesting how to achieve them.
