Abstract

We conducted a philosophical analysis of economic concepts and presented a proposal for a practical approach to the issues. Economic Value is defined in relation to potential or actual economic exchanges, while Social Value is defined in relation to actions to promote people, that is, human development. In the capitalist society, there is a dissociation between the two, since Social Value is only remunerated when it has Economic Value, which leads to two types of problem: the increase in economic inequality, disfavoring the sectors of society that generate Social, without Economic, Value, and the degradation of the environment, which occurs when environmental goods are used in the exclusive prism of Economic Value. In this essay, we seek to investigate these concepts, relating them to the concept of Consciousness, which would operate historically not only in the generation of Economic Value, but also in the process of recognition and remuneration of Social Value. In the transition from theory to practice, we also make suggestions on how to solve the problem within the framework of public economic policy.