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Business Ethics and the Origins of Contemporary Capitalism: Economics and Ethics in the Work of Adam Smith and Herbert Spencer

Journal of Business Ethics volume 24, pages 185–198 (2000)Cite this article

Abstract

Both Adam Smith and Herbert spencer, albeit in quite different ways, have been enormously influential in what we today take to be philosophies of modern capitalism. Surprisingly it is Spencer, not Smith, who is the individualist, perhaps an egoist, and supports a "night watchman" theory of the state. Smith's concept of political economy is a notion that needs to be revisited, and Spencer's theory of democratic workplace management offers a refreshing twist on contemporary libertarianism.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Darden School, University of Virginia, P.O. Box 6550, Charlottesville, VA, 22906

    Patricia H. Werhane

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Werhane, P.H. Business Ethics and the Origins of Contemporary Capitalism: Economics and Ethics in the Work of Adam Smith and Herbert Spencer. Journal of Business Ethics 24, 185–198 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005937623890

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005937623890