In this article I want to show the ambiguity of the popular division of economics: 'positive economics' and 'normative economics'. In my opinion economists interpret the meaning of these terms in different ways. At the beginning I present the criteria of distinguishing 'positive economics' from 'normative economics', which are often used by different groups of contemporary economists. Then I create a typology of different meanings of these terms used by the economists. Finally, I quote different economists who use these terms in different meanings. This way I present the ambiguities in economists' language. I conclude by indicating the damage caused by the ambiguity of the discussed classification. It can be the cause of unsolved arguments that unnecessarily involve participants' time and effort.
In this article I describe dispute about whether welfare economics is normative economics, or the positive economics. The introduction to the discussion was a debate between Ezra Mishan and Pieter Hennipman in 1982-1984. It resulted in Mishan's acceptation of the Hennipman's view, that welfare economics is a part of the positive economics. After a couple of years the topic appeared back in the economic journals. In the first part of this article I present views of George Archibald, Pieter Hennipman and Yew-Kwang Ng, which treat welfare economics as a part of positive economics. In the second part I present contrary opinions of Mark Blaug. In the third part I present counterarguments, which (in my opinion) undermine Blaug's position. I end with the hypothesis that dispute, which I described, can be caused-among others-by the existing, since the time of John Neville Keynes and Max Weber, ambiguity of the terms 'positive economics' and 'normative economics'.
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