Wertfreiheit und Objektivität in den Wirtschaftswissenschaften: Mythos oder Realität?

After a short description of some positions which reject the principle of value freedom and after a short specification of what is meant with this principle, first the relation between the genesis of a scientific statement and its validity is discussed. There, we also tackle the problem of pre-testing in empirical research. Then, we consider value loaded statements of economists. If we see the scientific process as a discourse process in the sense of K.R. POPPER, despite of being violations of the principle of value freedom, such statements do necessarily impede the objectivity of the results of the scientific discourse. While there is no difference between Critical Rationalism and the position of Max Weber with respect to the value freedom of the sciences, there is some difference with respect to the value freedom of scientists..