David Ricardo : an intellectual biography / Sergio Cremaschi.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Cremaschi, Sergio, author.

Series:

Routledge studies in the history of economics.

Routledge studies in the history of economics

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Ricardo, David, 1772-1823.

Ricardo, David.

Economists--Great Britain--Biography.

Economists.

Economics--Philosophy.

Economics.

Economics--Moral and ethical aspects.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (206 pges).

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

London : Routledge, [2022]

Summary:

"David Ricardo has been acclaimed - or vilified - for merits he would never have dreamt of, or sins for which he was entirely innocent. Entrenched mythology labels him as a utilitarian economist, an enemy of the working class, an impractical theorist, a scientist with 'no philosophy at all' and the author of a formalist methodological revolution. Exploring a middle ground between theory and biography, this book explores the formative intellectual encounters of a man who came to economic studies via other experiences, thus bridging the gap between the historical Ricardo and the economist's Ricardo. The chapters undertake a thorough analysis of Ricardo's writings in their context, asking who was speaking, what audience was being addressed, with what communicative intentions, using what kind of lexicon and communicative conventions, and starting with what shared knowledge. The work opens in presenting the different religious communities with which Ricardo was in touch. It goes on to describe his education in the leading science of the time - geology - before he turned to the study of political economy. Another chapter discusses five 'philosophers' - students of logic, ethics and politics - with whom he was in touch. From correspondence, manuscripts and publications, the closing chapters reconstruct, firstly, Ricardo's ideas on scientific method, the limits of the 'abstract science' and its application, secondly, his ideas on ethics and politics and their impact on strategies for improving the condition of the working class. This book sheds new light on Ricardian economics, providing an invaluable service to readers of economic methodology, philosophy of economics, the history of economic thought, political thought and philosophy. Sergio Cremaschi is a former Reader of Moral Philosophy at the 'Amedeo Avogadro' University at Vercelli"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Cover

Half Title

Series Page

Title Page

Copyright Page

Table of Contents

About the author

Preface: Science, logic, ethics and theology in Ricardo's intellectual biography

1 Ricardo's Sepharad

Twenty-one years in Ricardo's life

Anglo-Judaism from 1600 to 1793

Echoes from the Haskalah

Ricardo's education

Partial conclusions: the importance of being an outsider

2 Ricardo's encounter with the Quakers

The Society of Friends

British Quakerism at the time of the French Revolution

The impossible marriage of a Jew with a Quaker

Ricardo's Quaker relations

Ricardo's involvement in a Quaker secession

Partial conclusions: the importance of being a husband

3 Ricardo's encounter with the Unitarians

Scripture and reason

Ricardo's 'conversion'

Robert Aspland, the missionary to the Jews

Thomas Belsham, the Biblical scholar

James Lindsay, the campaigner for Toleration

John Bowring and Thomas Smith

Partial conclusions: the importance of being a Dissenter

4 Ricardo's encounter with geologists

Ricardo's higher education

The London Institution

Chemistry after the phlogiston controversy

Geology after the catastrophism-uniformitarianism controversy

Richard Kirwan

The Geological Society of London

Controversies in geology: logic, definitions and causality

From chemistry and geology to political economy

Partial conclusions: the importance of a scientific education

5 Ricardo's encounter with philosophers and political economists

Francis Horner and the Scottish philosophy

Jeremy Bentham and the philosophic radicals

James Mill, between Scottish philosophy and Benthamism

Thomas Robert Malthus and the Cambridge philosophy

Thomas Belsham and the Hartley-Priestley philosophy

Jean-Baptiste Say and the idéologie.

Partial conclusions: a high station among philosophers

6 Ricardo on logic and political economy

Ricardian rhetoric

Language and definitions

Laws and causes

Permanent causes and natural magnitudes

Strong cases

The redundancy of utility

Ricardian logic and scientific practice

Ricardian logic and policy advice

Partial conclusions: a science without an art

7 Ricardo on ethics and political economy

Moral impressions and the rational pursuit of happiness

Just war

Penal law and private morality

Slavery

Unlimited toleration

Good government

Ethics and the uses of political economy

The miscarriage of all social theodicies

Partial conclusions: neither a utilitarian nor theological optimist

Conclusions: a man from another planet

Appendix

The Christian Reformer: text of the Christians' Petition

The Christian Reformer &amp

The Monthly Repository: presentation of the Christians' Petition in the House of Commons and the House of the Lords

The Sunday Times: Daniel Whittle Harvey's obituary

The Morning Chronicle: Mill's Letter to the Editor

The Monthly Repository: obituary

The Gentlemen's Magazine: obituary

The Penny Cyclopaedia: George Porter's entry

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781003162100

100316210X

9781000475760

100047576X

9781000475791

1000475794

OCLC:

1255520340