Statistics and Social Reform: Ernst Engel’s “Werth des Menschen”

Abstract

  The purpose of this paper is to reconstruct the thoughts of Ernst Engel（1821–1896）, a German statistician, in terms of his theory of the “value of a human being（Werth des Menschen）.”Engel was not merely a statistician but one of the pioneering figures who actively engaged in the social reform movement. He strongly believed that statistics were indispensable to driving social reform. In order to illuminate and resolve the workers’ problem, Engel focused on his concept of the “value of a human being,” which considered human beings as an economic value.

  First, this paper addresses the “value of a human being （Werth des Menschen）,” one of Engel’s important works, in which he introduced two key concepts――“cost value” （Kostenwert） and “profit value” （Ertragswert）. In the second and third chapters, I examine the two main topics of his statistical investigation: industrial accidents and family budgets of the working class. Lastly, I clarify Engel’s conception of society as a parabola formed by different individual interests. My argument reveals that Engel demonstrated a logic for protecting the working class under capitalism by regarding the “value of a human being” not only as an economic concept but also as a question of workers’ rights. The article also concludes that Engel’s practices for social reform were grounded in his distinctive view of society.