Equality, Rights and the Autonomous Self
Toward a Conservative Economics
Timothy P. Roth(Author)
Edward Elgar Publishing
Published on 25. March 2004
Book
Hardback
176 pages
978-1-84376-450-2 (ISBN)
Description
Modern liberalism asserts the transcendental, autonomous self's 'natural rights' against others' moralistic and political preferences, and regards the economist's utilitarian social welfare theory as instrumental to the achievement of 'social justice'. Timothy Roth argues that the liberal enterprise ignores Kant's 'two points of view', confuses Kantian autonomy with moral and political license, mistakes utilitarian impersonality for impartiality, and takes no account of the indeterminacy of social welfare theory's fundamental theoretical constructs. In contrast, the author shows that Kant's 'two points of view' inform the conservative's constitutive political position and animate the consequence-detached, explicitly normative work of the conservative, constitutional political economist. He shows that, unlike modern liberalism, conservatism is grounded in Kant's 'two points of view', that utilitarian social welfare theory cannot be instrumental to the achievement of social justice, and that constitutional political economy is conservative economics.
Economists interested in political economy, methodological issues, social welfare theory, public choice theory, or the moral foundations of economics will find much of interest in this thought-provoking volume. Political scientists interested in the philosophical foundations of modern liberalism and conservatism will also want to add this title to their library.
Economists interested in political economy, methodological issues, social welfare theory, public choice theory, or the moral foundations of economics will find much of interest in this thought-provoking volume. Political scientists interested in the philosophical foundations of modern liberalism and conservatism will also want to add this title to their library.
Reviews / Votes
'This is scholarship at its best: meticulous yet relevant; scientific yet normative; solid yet critical. Even those who will disagree - and there are going to be legions - will not want to miss this analysis.' -- Amitai Etzioni, author of The Moral Dimension: Towards a New Economics and University Professor, The George Washington University, US 'A sophisticated and wide-ranging approach to socio-economic problems that helps us to understand why fashionable liberal attempts to secure "social justice" produce social breakdown instead.' -- Roger Scruton, Writer and Philosopher, formerly University Professor and Professor of Philosophy at Boston University, USMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Cheltenham
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-84376-450-2 (9781843764502)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Timothy P. Roth, A.B. Templeton Professor and Chairman, Department of Economics and Finance, University of Texas, El Paso, US
Content
Contents: 1. The First-Person Self: The Liberal's View 2. Derivative Political Positions 3. Equal Treatment, Natural Rights, and Social Justice 4. Liberalism's Utilitarian Connection 5. The First-Person Self: The Conservative's View 6. Derivative Political Positions 7. Toward a Conservative Economics 8. A Postscript on Law References Index