Lacking ethical foundations does not defeat the economic approach for pragmatists.

Evidence

Although it is easily shown that the economic approach is neither deducible from nor completely consistent with either system of ethics, this is not a decisive objection from a pragmatic standpoint. Pragmatists are unperturbed by a lack of foundations. — Richard A. Posner, What Has Pragmatism to Offer Law?, 126

Categorization

• SEED: Angle for an essay/note on why foundationalist critiques miss the point of instrumentally useful legal theory — pragmatists trade foundations for consequences.
• XREF: connects to: Moral obligations derive from objective ideality, not from society or individual will — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 356; Welfare economics advances normative views through unremarked assumptions and exclusions, not debate. — Douglas A. Kysar, Regulating from Nowhere: Environmental…, 271

Broader Connections

• Moral obligations derive from objective ideality, not from society or individual will #complicates (0.72) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 356