| Abstract: |
This paper may be considered an essay on metaeconomics, since it deals with
the meaning of several concepts often left undefined, or very briefly defined
in economic theories. These concepts are the following: value including the
values of things and moral values, social norms or institutions, social power,
goods and services, transactions and organizations (firms, and others). The
paper starts by proposing a general concept of value, encompassing both the
value of things and moral values. From this concept it proceeds to the
definition of six different types of values of things and moral values and to
the concept of value transformation process of things which includes all the
operations dealt with in economic theory as well as many other human actions.
The last part of the paper starts with the distinction between moral values
and social norms (or institutions) and the roles of social power and human
organization in connecting the domains of morality and social normativity. The
paper proceeds by distinguishing different types of norms, including
possession norms which are important for defining the concepts of goods and
services and transaction processes. |