A Discussion of Bourgeois Equality Chapter 21 “That is, He was No Reductionist, Economistic or Otherwise” Dr. McCloskey opens this third chapter on Adam Smith, noting that he did not reduce ethics to just one virtue the way the Enlightenment ultimately did, …narrowing an ethical system down to, for example,…
Tag: Virtue Ethics
Bourgeois Equality
Adam Smith is not Responsible for Sociopath Max U
A Discussion of Bourgeois Equality Chapter 20 “Smith was not a Max U, but Rather the Last of the Former Virtue Ethicists” Now I, an economist, need to write about ethics. The fact that is a challenge is in part, Dr. McCloskey’s critique of us economists. In the last chapter,…
Bourgeois Equality
Was Adam Smith Really So Pecuniary?
In this part of the book, Dr. McCloskey is continuing to demonstrate a positive shift in attitude towards the bourgeois, esteeming the virtues that will make the coming age of commerce possible. She is now going to write four (4!) chapters about Adam Smith so get ready for a deep…
Bourgeois Equality
When Earning Money Became a Virtue
A Discussion of Bourgeois Equality Chapter 18 “No Woman but a Blockhead Wrote for Anything but Money” In this chapter, Dr. McCloskey is continuing with the idea initiated the last chapter: Jane Austen illustrates the bourgeois ideals in her writing, though she herself was not bourgeois. Austen is gentry, not…
Bourgeois Equality
Knowledge Is the True Key
A Discussion of Bourgeois Equality Chapter 12 “‘Accumulate, Accumulate’ Is Not What Happened in History” Last chapter McCloskey explored reasons the word “capitalism” should be replaced with a term that captures the source of the Great Enrichment, such as “trade-tested betterment.” Now she continues along the same path in this chapter…