The Values of Economics: An Aristotelian Perspective / Edition 1

by Irene van Staveren

Overview

In his Ethics, Aristotle argued that human beings try to further a variety of values by balancing them, stating that people try to find a middle road between excess and deficiency. The author develops and applies this idea to the values of economics, arguing that in the economy; freedom, justice and care are also balanced to further ends with scarce means. Freedom is furthered through market exchange, justice through a redistributive role of the state, and care through mutual gifts of labour and sharing of resources in the economy.
The book argues that economics is, and has always been, about human values, which guide, enable, constrain and change economic behaviour.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415241823
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	06/07/2001
Series:	Economics as Social Theory
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)
Lexile:	1330L (what's this?)

Table of Contents

1. The Missing Ethical Capabilities of Rational Economic Man 2. Paradoxes of Value 3. Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite 4. Beyond the Highway of Modern Economics 5. Hypotheses on Economic Role Combination 6. Toward an Aristotelian Economics 7. Institutional Mediation Between Value Domains

Editorial Reviews

'[Van Staveren's] discussion on the value domain of the care economy and its interactions with and interdependece to justice and freedom is unparalleled. This book will be of great value to those interested in understanding and probing the ethical dimensions of economic rationality, as well as those interested in how institutions mediate the roles of women in the three economic value domains.' - Journal of Feminist Economics

From the Publisher