Aristotle and economic analysis
About: This article is published in Past & Present.The article was published on 1970-05-01. It has received 165 citations till now.
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TL;DR: The moral economic school, which has flourished among anthropologists, economic historians, and classicists, has received only limited attention from political scientists as mentioned in this paper, which is perplexing, since at its core is to be found an intersection of debates over rational choice theory, the character of modern and pre-market societies, and the normative standing of the market.
Abstract: The moral economic school, which has flourished among anthropologists, economic historians, and classicists, has received only limited attention from political scientists. This is perplexing, since at its core is to be found an intersection of debates over rational choice theory, the character of modern and premarket societies, and the normative standing of the market—in other words, over issues of formidable importance to our discipline. I seek to correct that neglect by mapping out and critically analyzing the moral economists' conception of modernity, their critique of the economic approach to human behavior and institutions, and their attempt to formulate an Aristotelian theory of the economy. These projects, though flawed, together are more than rich enough to provide fertile ground for political scientists and philosophers. I conclude with a discussion of the moral economists' effort to develop a normative theory of the economy together with a related critique of the market.
237 citations
11 May 2000
TL;DR: In this paper, a general and comprehensive treatment of the political thought of ancient Greece and Rome is presented, starting with Homer and ending in late antiquity with Christian and pagan reflections on divine and human order.
Abstract: This book, first published in 2000, is a general and comprehensive treatment of the political thought of ancient Greece and Rome. It begins with Homer and ends in late antiquity with Christian and pagan reflections on divine and human order. In between come studies of Plato, Aristotle and a host of other major and minor thinkers - poets, historians, philosophers - whose individuality is brought out by extensive quotation. The international team of distinguished scholars assembled by the editors includes historians of law, politics, culture and religion, and also philosophers. Some chapters focus mostly on the ancient context of the ideas they are examining, while others explore these ideas as systems of thought which resonate with modern or perennial concerns. This clearly written volume will long remain an accessible and authoritative guide to Greek and Roman thinking about government and community.
192 citations
TL;DR: The authors argued that Polanyi employed embeddedness as a methodological principle akin to methodological holism and as a theoretical proposition on the changing place of economy in society, which reveals a tension in his thought.
Abstract: While Polanyi argues that all economies are embedded and enmeshed in social relations and institutions, he tends to see market economy as disembedded, which reveals a tension in his thought. The main motivation for this paper is to understand the origins of this tension. On the basis of a systematic formulation of Polanyi's work, it is argued that Polanyi employs embeddedness in a dual manner: (a) as a methodological principle akin to methodological holism, and (b) as a theoretical proposition on the changing place of economy in society. These two formulations of embeddedness contradict each other. After tracing out the origins of this contradiction, this paper concludes by considering the implications of this analysis for economic sociology. It is argued that embeddedness as a methodological principle is the only acceptable usage of the term. Yet, in this capacity, embeddedness falls short of economic sociology's goal of providing a theoretical alternative to neoclassical economics.
184 citations
28 Apr 2005
TL;DR: The history of economic thought and its role has been discussed in this paper, with a focus on the marginalist revolution: the subjective theory of value and the Austrian school and its neighbourhood.
Abstract: Preface 1. The history of economic thought and its role 2. The prehistory of political economy 3. William Petty and the origins of political economy 4. From body politic to economic tables 5. Adam Smith 6. Economic science at the time of the French revolution 7. David Ricardo 8. The 'Ricardians' and the decline of Ricardianism 9. Karl Marx 10. The marginalist revolution: the subjective theory of value 11. The Austrian school and its neighbourhood 12. General economic equilibrium 13. Alfred Marshall 14. John Maynard Keynes 15. Joseph Schumpeter 16. Piero Sraffa 17. The age of fragmentation 18. Where are we going? Some (very tentative) considerations References Index.
164 citations
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01 Jan 1977
TL;DR: In this paper, a reprint of a lecture given in London in November 1970 but only published in!976 is presented, with references to later literature and references to the comments of George Dalton, who was kind enough to read it when he was visiting Cambridge in 1974.
Abstract: This paper is a reprint of a lecture given in London in November 1970 but only published in !976. The lecture form has been retained , but references to later literature have been inserted and the revision has greatly profited from the comments of my friend George Dalton of Northwestern University, who was kind enough to read .it when he was visiting Cambridge in 1974. Its main argument is briefly summarized in my (London: Oxford University Press , 1975), pp. 5-8. The lapse of nearly six years between the delivery of this lecture and its publication must, I fear, be blamed on a temperamental reluctance to commit to print what is at best only a very partial solution of a major historical problem. One of its consequences is that some of the original
139 citations
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...Firth (1970)....
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