Mouood Mouood English Edition
A society which follows a free economy, not a society in which the price of goods and wages are controlled by the government and where a fixed wage has been determined for the workers. So we see that free capital itself is the condition for the scientific law to be realised, and this law, in the framework of a capitalist system can give certainty to society. This is what we mean when ‘we say the law from the point of View of content is scientific, and the conditions which must be present for it in actual practice could reflect an ideology.
It seems that by not emphasising the differences between the content of the law, and the conditions it is realised in, led some people to say that all investigations concerning distribution are ideological in nature, and scientific investigations would never interfere in matters concerning distribution.
Also, ‘in view of the fact, that the scientific law concerning distribution is only realised in a certain economic system caused some groups of people to say that the law is an ideological law, not a scientific one.
From the above discussion we may conclude that:
An economic (scientific) investigation in a purely theoretical framework is different from an ideological assessment of an economic or socioeconomic situation, so as to produce a system for regulating the same in a just and equitable manner. The conclusion, therefore, is that the duty of pure economics is to establish the facts, and the duty of an ideological assessment of a socioeconomic situation is to indicate a just solution to any problem.
Pure economics discusses both production and distribution, just as the socioeconomic study does. Thus, their difference is one of approach to the problem. It does not lie in the subject-matter itself. Accordingly, it would be meaningless to say that their difference concerns microeconomic factors like production and distribution.
Any factual analysis of production that does not take into consideration the kind of the overall socioeconomic system and the regulatory policies represents an academic approach of pure economists. Any extension of this approach to a situational analysis of distribution remains oriented to, the same assumption of a pure economist that any socioeconomic policy regulation should be within the ideological framework of an existing system, such as that of a free market economy. Thus, his assessments can only be specific to the laws of distribution applicable to that socio-economic system.
Further, the difference between the approach of it pure economist and that of socio-economic policymakers is reflected in their means of investigation. The former employs scientific method to identify facts based on an existing situation, including subjective criteria such as one’s observation and experience. At the same time, the scientific investigation is related to general economic laws and relationships.
In the event of finding a problem with no clear-cut definition or decisive outcome, the pure economist will draw on his, experiences of investigations of the past economic events. Then, he scientifically evaluates the probabilities of certain phenomena and makes a judgement with all his personal integrity as to what could take place in a given situation. In this respect, his method is similar to that of a physicist in discovering, say, the boiling point of water. An economist, when he wishes to discover a solution to an economic crisis, which all capitalist societies (cyclically) face, might investigate the relevant events which may have been recurrent throughout man’s economic life.
The approach of a socioeconomic policy-maker is completely opposite to the above. It would be rather impossible for him to investigate and come to conclusions in the manner of a pure economist. This is simply because of his concern for socioeconomic justice.
No doubt, (the abstract concept of) justice is unlike the (empirical reality of) water temperature, or even viewing an economic crisis in a historical perspective without• involving any scientific basis of measurement. Justice is neither a natural phenomenon to be susceptible to the empirical method and/ or a scientific scale of measurement.
In the above context, let us consider a visualization of justice in a distribution process. Many groups believe, justice in distribution would only come about with a system such as Marxism, in which all members of society have an equitable income and wealth. Also, there are others who believe that justice in distribution can only be achieved when all people have equal freedom (of economic opportunity), although this freedom may yet result in differences of individual incomes and wealth (assuming that all people use this freedom equally in the capitalist system) .
Some groups believe that justice in distribution will come about when all people are guaranteed a fixed income, with provision for earning more, as indicated in Islam.
Now we would like to discover what could be a basis for a just or an unjust distribution system. We would like to discover whether having a system in which all people have an equal income and wealth is just, or whether it is just to give freedom for people to behave as they wish, and allow their incomes to remain at any level. Or is there a third path between these two ways?
To find the most just among these three paths, it is impossible for us to use the scientific method. Because justice is not a natural phenomenon like the boiling point of water, which we are able to see and verify. Also justice is not a historic or social phenomenon, like an economic crisis in a capitalist society, which can be identified from experience, through comparisons between people and recognition of the extent of equality or inequality existing in their attributes and physique.
A pure economist may measure and compare people’s income, yet, he will not deem it proper to say: “Justice would be ensured if everybody had equal incomes or unequal incomes”. For equality and justice are not the kind of attributes that can be measured on a scientific or physical scale, in the same way as physical quantities and certain natural properties.
A believer in a capitalist economy may say that it entitles its constituent people to freedom and treats them equally, even if their standard of living is not uniform. A believer in a communist society may say that it enables its members to obtain virtually a uniform standard of living. They both would be unable to answer a question as to whether or not they can measure social justice in the same way as they do any ambient temper true . For people’s rights are not to be measured in the scientific manner of physical properties (such as measurement of sound levels in decibels).
We may conclude, therefore, that neither the socioeconomic policy-making process, nor any purely economic or social theory, can use scientific means to investigate justice and rights of men. The concept of justice can only be derived from the principles of a comprehensive: ideology, so as to justly and wholesomely regulate a people’s socioeconomic system.
