Economics for Philosophers
“The master-economist must possess a rare combination of gifts .... He must be mathematician, historian, statesman, philosopher—in some degree. He must understand symbols and speak in words. He must contemplate the particular, in terms of the general, and touch abstract and concrete in the same flight of thought. He must study the present in the light of the past for the purposes of the future. No part of man's nature or his institutions must be entirely outside his regard. He must be purposeful and disinterested in a simultaneous mood, as aloof and incorruptible as an artist, yet sometimes as near to earth as a politician.”
- John Maynard Keynes
About Economics for Philosophers
On this website I intend to welcome philosophers to the not-so-dismal science of economics. I'll post interesting reads, books, perhaps do an occasional online course - if I have time.For now I'm just listing some books.
Economics of Good and Evil
This book by the Czech economist Tomáš Sedláček traces myths in economics and economics in myths. This was the first book that made me interested in bigger questions about economics.
The Wealth of Nations
It's always good to go back to the beginnings. And you might be surprised by some of Adam Smith's thought.
The Theory of Moral Sentiments
The first book of Adam Smith, the one that made him famous in his lifetime.“How selfish soever man may be supposed, there are evidently some principles in his nature, which interest him in the fortune of others, and render their happiness necessary to him, though he derives nothing from it, except the pleasure of seeing it.”This book deals with the question where our moral sentiments come from. It does not ask, "What is good?", but "Where do our ideas of good and evil come from?". An interesting read that shows Adam Smith in a different light than as the "father of modern economics".
Contact
Feel free to contact me for questions, book suggestions, or any other reason.