this issue
previous article in this issuenext article in this issue

Document Details :

Title: Homo Œconomicus, Social Order, and the Ethics of Otherness
Author(s): ARNSPERGER, Christian , HOOVER, Claire
Journal: Ethical Perspectives
Volume: 6    Issue: 2   Date: 1999   
Pages: 139-149
DOI: 10.2143/EP.6.2.505352

Abstract :
Economics is often believed to be a 'value-free' discipline, and even an `a-moral' one. My aim is to demonstrate that homo Ĺ“conomicus can recover his ethical nature if the philosophical roots of contemporary economics are laid bare. This, however, requires us to look for an alternative foundation for the idea of 'social order,' a foundation which economics (and also part of sociology) is ill-equipped to provide because of its exclusive focus on calculative rationality. But a new ethical perspective on homo Ĺ“conomicus and on the manner in which he chooses his actions is possible. My aim here is to make this new perspective explicit.

Download article