Many people know that economics is sometimes called the "Dismal Science", but do you know why?
Everyone knows that Thomas Carlyle called economics the “dismal science”, but the context in which he did so is surprising. Sandra Peart and David Levy point out in The “Vanity of the Philosopher”: From Equality to Hierarchy in Postclassical Economics (University of Michigan Press, 2005), that Carlyle thought economics was “dismal” because the classical economists opposed slavery.
Adam Smith and his successors supported a broadly utilitarian philosophy in which everyone was taken to be equally capable of happiness. Carlyle and other defenders of hierarchy condemned the economists for what they regarded as dangerous nonsense.
Follow the link to read more.
No comments:
Post a Comment