Volume 14, Number 2; Summer 2011
This paper deals with the meaning and the limits of the subjective theory of value. Economists deploy this theory in such various areas as utility, marginalism, knowledge and expectations . Yet, despite its wide spread use in economics, the meaning of subjective value remains equivocal and imprecise. This paper seeks to provide a more accurate praxeological interpretation of subjective value by anchoring it on preferences that are effectively demonstrated in action. This praxeological approach appears to be particularly pertinent for explaining the misuses of subjectivism in relation to utility and marginalism, and in showing the limits of various attempts to extend subjectivism to knowledge and expectations.
