Contents: Preface 1. Ethics and Economics 2. Some Fundamentals 3. Origins of Ethics 4. The Case for Indirect Utilitarianism 5. What Counts as Utility? 6. The Alleged Problem of Aggregation 7. Is Utilitarianism Immoral? 8. Altruism and Self-Interest 9. Duty and Universalizability 10. Rivals of Utilitarianism 11. Law, Government, and Policy 12. Utilitarianism after All References Index
The late Leland B. Yeager, formerly Ludwig von Mises Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Economics, Auburn University and Paul Goodloe McIntire Professor of Economics Emeritus, University of Virginia, US
'. . . this is a very ambitious book - ranging over a great deal of
territory and a great number of issues . . . the general
perspectives offered are certainly engaging.'
*Alan Hamlin, Journal of Economic Methodology*
'. . . an illuminating book, informed by careful thought and
wide-ranging scholarship.'
*David Gordon, The Mises Review*
'Economics claims to be a science of choice and its unintended
consequences, but economists sneak moral judgments in through the
back door. Ethics, on the other hand, often falters on the stilts
of weak economic theories and assumptions. The result - economics
without ethics is often sterile, and ethics without economics is
often incoherent. Severed from one another, each can be dangerously
misleading, and each misses the opportunity to better understand
the economic and moral complexity behind social cooperation. Ethics
as Social Science helps reconcile the two disciplines, and
represents years of seasoned, careful thinking on the topic. Using
clear, straightforward language, Yeager argues that economists
should be alert to their ethical positions, rather than preach
tacitly behind the mask of social welfare analysis and the like.
Calling for a comparative institutional analysis, Yeager himself
advances an argument in favor of an indirect or rule
utilitarianism, one that is sure to unleash debate among
libertarians, classical liberals, and defenders of mainstream
welfare economics, and among moral philosophers who follow the
present state of economic theory.'
*David L. Prychitko, Northern Michigan University, US*
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