Human goods, economic evils : a moral approach to the dismal science / Edward Hadas.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hadas, Edward.

Series:

Culture of enterprise.

Culture of enterprise

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Economics--Philosophy.

Economics.

Economics--Moral and ethical aspects.

Economics--Sociological aspects.

Economics--Religious aspects--Christianity.

Physical Description:

xx, 324 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Welmington, Del. : ISI Books, [2007]

Summary:

Much of modern economic theory is based on a rather unflattering view of human nature, one that is essentially selfish and materialistic. Not surprisingly, this incomplete version of human anthropology makes for some rather incomplete economic theory, argues Edward Hadas in Human Goods & Economic Evils . Instead of simply being utility maximizers, Hadas argues human beings also seek to maximize morality in their everyday economic lives. For Hadas, economic man is moral man, who always strives for the good according to his nature. While the weakness of human nature ensures that the good is never fully achieved, economic activity is nevertheless best understood as part of the great moral enterprise of humanity. Human Goods & Economic Evils does not claim that the basic economic activities of laboring and consuming are the most important things in life, but they are literally vital, and as such deserve to be studied and understood through a more morally sympathetic view of human nature. With this in mind, Human Goods & Economic Evils provides both lay readers and policymakers the intellectual tools necessary to judge what is right and what is wrong about the modern economy, and returns the study of economics to its proper, more humanistic sphere.

Contents:

Foreword: The Joyful Science / Stratford Caldecott ix

1 What Are We Talking About? (I) 1

2 The Problem with Conventional Economics 19

3 Can This Model Be Saved? 35

4 Starting Again 49

5 Human Nature for Economists 65

6 A Short Discourse on Economic Method 77

7 What Are We Talking About? (II) 87

8 A Few Imperfect Ideas about the Economic Good 113

9 Economic Goods for the World 125

10 Economic Goods for the Economy 147

11 Evil in Economics 157

12 Economic Evils in the World 165

13 Economic Evils in the Economy 181

14 The World of Work 193

15 A Typology of Labor 215

16 Consumption in the World 239

17 A Typology of Consumption 257

18 What Should We Talk about Now? 273.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [283]-298) and index.

ISBN:

1933859261

9781933859262

193385927X

9781933859279

OCLC:

148870768

Online:

Contributor biographical information