Scarcity, Capabilities, and the Fact/Value Dichotomy: Vivian Charles Walsh’s Neglected Contribution to Economics and Philosophy

This paper sheds new light on Vivian Charles Walsh’s neglected intellectual path, privileging his analysis of the concept of scarcity and his contribution to the history of the capability approach within the broader context of the fact/value dichotomy debate. With Hilary Putnam, Walsh was one of the main advocates of the fact/value entanglement against logical positivism and neoclassical orthodox economics. Based on this entanglement, Walsh developed an ethical and economic understanding of scarcity that impeded the achievement of certain ends. In turn, Walsh’s notion of achievement anticipated Sen’s notion of functioning, making him the first capability theorist. His contribution to the history of the capability approach does not end here because Walsh was also a brilliant interlocutor and reader of Sen and Nussbaum’s works. All these elements make Walsh a figure who deserves to be explored more in-depth by economists and other social scientists.