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P. Force, Self-Interest before Adam Smith

P. Force, Self-Interest before Adam Smith

Publié le par Marielle Macé (Source : Charles-Oliver Stiker-Metral)

Self-Interest before Adam Smith. A Genealogy of Economic Science
Pierre Force
Cambridge University Press. £45.00
September 2003 | Hardback | 296 pages | ISBN: 0521830605


Self-Interest before Adam Smith inquires into the foundations of economic theory. It is generally assumed that the birth of modern economic science, marked by the publication of The Wealth of Nations in 1776, was the triumph of the selfish hypothesis (the idea that self-interest is the motive of human action). Yet, as a neo-Epicurean idea, this hypothesis had been a matter of controversy for over a century and Smith opposed it from a neo-Stoic point of view. But how can the Epicurean principles of orthodox economic theory be reconciled with the Stoic principles of Adam Smiths philosophy? Pierre Force shows how Smiths theory refutes the selfish hypothesis and integrates it at the same time. He also explains how Smith appropriated Rousseaus republican critique of modern commercial society, and makes the case that the autonomy of economic science is an unintended consequence of Smiths republican principles.


Contents
Introduction; 1. Self-interest as a first principle; 2. Epicurean vs. stoic schemes; 3. Self-interest and reason; 4. Passions, interests and society; 5. Interested and disinterested commerce; 6. Self-interest and the public good; Conclusion.

Pierre Force est professeur de littérature française à l'Université de Columbia.