Abstract
The introduction presents the outlines of the contemporary debate in economics and the relevance of bringing up Rosmini’s economic philosophy to illuminate this debate. In the first place, the main assumptions and current critiques of the neoclassical paradigm in economics are presented. In the second place, the analysis about contemporary economics is put under the light of the crisis of modernity and the shift from the modern rationalist-utilitarian paradigm to a new, although still uncertain, model. Thirdly, a series of philosophical works by authors – inspired mainly by Hegel – who interpret the said shift as a transition from what they call the ‘Machiavellian and Hobbesian’ paradigm of ‘self-conservation’ to a new ‘recognition’ paradigm are also presented. In the fourth place, the possible flaws of Hegelian arguments in order to ground a paradigm of recognition in economics are shown. Finally, some arguments are introduced to show how Rosmini’s conception of recognition based on a personalist idea of the human being can be a far better philosophical foundation for economics than the one held by authors inspired by Hegel.
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Notes
- 1.
One of the best examples of this point of view is in Gary Becker (1978).
- 2.
“The combined assumptions of maximizing behavior, market equilibrium, and stable preferences, used relentlessly and unflinchingly, form the heart of the economic approach as I see it” (Becker 1978, 5).
- 3.
“The economic theory of utility has too little structure. A person is given one preference ordering, and when the need arises this is supposed to reflect his interests, represent his welfare, summarize his idea of what should be done, and describe his actual choices and behavior. Can one preference ordering do all these things? A person thus described may be «rational» in the limited sense of revealing no inconsistencies in his choice behavior, but if he has no use for these distinctions between quite different concepts, he must be a bit of a fool” (Sen 1977, 335–336).
- 4.
The works of Ernst Fehr and Armin Falk have significantly weakened the neoclassical assumption of “perfect egoism” revealing how “fairness” and “altruist” reciprocity play a key role in labor relationships (Fehr and Gächter 2000).
- 5.
“The limits of created beings do not come therefore from dialectics, as Hegel wants, but are previous to it. Nor it is true what this philosopher pretends that individual limits are fleety and mortal because they are lost dialectically in being. Nor dialectics can make finite beings get into infinite being, neither it can make them get out of it” (Rosmini 2001, 663).
- 6.
Zamagni cites Wicksteed: “A specific characteristic of any economic relation is not the egoism behind it, but non-tuism.”(…) “The economic relation does not exclude everyone else except myself from my mind; it includes potentially everyone else except you.” (…) “It is only when tuism guides my behaviour that it ceases to take on a fully economic form. It is therefore nonsense to think of selfishness as the characteristic feature of economic life” (Zamagni 2005, 311).
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Hoevel, C. (2013). Introduction: From Autism to Recognition. In: The Economy of Recognition. Ethical Economy, vol 42. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6058-5_1
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