Abstract

Herman Dooyeweerd’s classical characterization of the meaning-kernel of the economic modality runs as follows:the sparing or frugal mode of administering scarce goods, implying an alternative choice of their destination with regard to thesatisfaction of different human needs.My first aim in this paper is to show that Dooyeweerd’s characterization of the meaning-kernel of the economic modality naturallyleads to neoclassical economic theory. In order to do this, I will provide an argument that, departing from Dooyeweerd’s definitionof the meaning-kernel of the economic modality, concludes in a logical reconstruction of neoclassical economictheory . The fundamental law of this theory will turn out to be thus, naturally, a formulation of thefundamental modal law of economics. The second aim of the paper is epistemological since it discusses the methodological problem of the empirical claim of the theory. It is my hope that this discussion will clarify the limits of NET and provide a reply to the objections raised against it by Reformed scholars like Goudzwaard