The Value of Money
Ethics and the World of Finance
Published on 18. April 2006
Book
Hardback
208 pages
978-0-567-03090-0 (ISBN)
Description
It is commonly observed that economic factors are pivotal in driving globalisation forward. A globalised economy is far more advanced than a globalised politics. However, if we are to fully understand what is happening, that assumption needs to be refined. This book argues that economic factors are themselves driven: they are the working out of underlying phenomena. Of these, the most pervasive and influential is money. This is not only money in the sense of the finance sector; it is also money in and of itself, the symbolic properties which money possesses. Crucially, this book takes both disciplines seriously, as equal conversation partners, and does not seek to use one approach to define the other as automatically inadequate.
Reviews / Votes
mention- The Chronicle of Higher Education, June 2, 2006 Author Catherine Cowley is taking part in the BBC World Service discussion programme In the Balance. The topics discussed were executive pay and debt forgiveness. With experience in the business world and now as a professor of religion, ethics, and public life, Cowley (Heythrop College, Univ. of London) is uniquely situated to write this useful book on Christian ethics and the finance sector. Unlike most volumes on business ethics, Cowley's book illuminates the role of the moral agent in the complex world of financial transactions. Deeply informed about the workings of the market, and grounded in virtue ethics and the rinciple of the common good, Cowley not only does a good job of situating the world of economic activity within a larger social and ethical framework, but also brings an insider's knowledge of the finance sector to bear on her moral analysis. Given the focus on the market, it is perhaps not too surprising that she underdevelops the personalist ethics that she uses to challenge the utilitarian moral philosophy that underlies much of the defense of the free market. This excellent book will be profitably used by social ethicists and also nonacademics seeking to understand how market and financial activity can be subject to moral evaluation based on Christian moral principles. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. * Choice *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Edinburgh
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 222 mm
Width: 145 mm
Thickness: 17 mm
Weight
450 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-567-03090-0 (9780567030900)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Dr Catherine Cowley teaches Christian Ethics at Heythrop College, University of London and is Associate Director of the Heythrop Institute for Religion, Ethics and Public Life. She is a member of the Congregation of the Religious of the Assumption.
Content
1. INTRODUCTION; 1.1 A 'bottom up' approach; 1.2 Functional Differentiation incl. The 'Positioning' of Business within Society; 1.3 Business values - a chimera?; 1.4 Summary and Conclusions; 2. ETHICAL CLAIMS OF THE MARKET; 2.1 The underlying nature of the market; 2.2 The value-free market?; 2.3 Advantages of the free market.; 2.4 Limits to these claims; 2.5 The free market and profits; 2.6 Summary and Conclusion; 3. ETHICAL INSUFFICIENCY OF THE MODEL; 3.1 The Disjunction between Fact and Value; 3.1.1 Values: Ends and Means; 3.2 The Motive of Self-Interest; 3.3 Summary and Conclusion; 4. GLOBALISATION AND THE MARKET; 5. THE FINANCIAL SECTOR: AN INITIAL OVERVIEW; 5.1 The 'Specialness' of the Financial Sector; 5.2 The 'positioning' of the finance sector.; 5.3 The purpose of the financial sector. 5.4 Summary and conclusions; 6. A PHILOSOPHY OF MONEY; 6.1 Some problems with existing approaches; 6.2 Philosophy of Money (examining specific features of money); 6.3 Some initial remarks on ethical issues and Simmel; 6.4 Summary and Conclusions; 7. THE GENOA TENDENCIES IN A GLOBAL ECONOMY; 8. DERIVATIVES AND RISK; 8.1 A contribution to the common good; 8.2 Destabilising features of derivatives markets; 8.3 The 'moral hazard' of volatility and risk; 8.4 Cross-border capital flows; 8.5 Ethical Considerations; 8.6 Summary and Conclusions; 9. AN ETHICS OF THE FINANCIAL SECTOR.