E-Book Content
SUBJECTIVITY IN POLITICAL ECONOMY
Political economy celebrates the idea of self-interest and depends on it. Yet vital questions about self-interest remain unanswered and unexplored. What is the self whose interests political economy celebrates? How do those interests relate to the self? And, in what does the self take an interest? Subjectivity in Political Economy explores the way political economy understands human motivation. In it, David Levine argues that the assumptions typically made by economists regarding want and choice cannot adequately lay a foundation for answering important questions about the design of economic institutions and the appropriate use of markets. Rather than assuming individuals know what they want and gain satisfaction from consuming what they imagine they want, we should think of economic institutions as involved in a process of self-seeking and self-discovery, in which knowing what we want is a result and not a premise. The volume examines the implications of this idea for political economy, especially for political economy’s normative goal: to offer guidance in shaping economic institutions conducive to individual freedom and meaningful satisfaction of individual want. Topics covered in the book include: the concept of subsistence; the idea of self-interest in classical political economy; the kind of knowledge necessary for economic action; the nature of want, choice, and rationality, the distinction between pleasure and happiness. The author gives particular consideration to normative concerns, especially the role and limits of the market. Subjectivity in Political Economy is an exciting and unusual contribution to political economy. David Levine offers a novel integration of the insights of political economy, philosophy, and psychology, applying them to vital foundational issues in political economy. David P.Levine is Professor of Economics at the Graduate School of International Studies at the University of Denver, USA.
ROUTLEDGE FRONTIERS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY 1 EQUILIBRIUM VERSUS UNDERSTANDING Towards the rehumanization of economics within social theory Mark Addleson 2 EVOLUTION, ORDER AND COMPLEXITY Edited by Elias L.Khalil and Kenneth E.Boulding 3 INTERACTIONS IN POLITICAL ECONOMY Malvern after ten years Edited by Steven Pressman 4 THE END OF ECONOMICS Michael Perelman 5 PROBABILITY IN ECONOMICS Omar F.Hamouda and Robin Rowley 6 CAPITAL CONTROVERSY, POST-KEYNESIAN ECONOMICS AND THE HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THEORY Essays in honour of Geoff Harcourt Volume One Edited by Philip Arestis, Gabriel Palma and Malcolm Sawyer 7 MARKETS, UNEMPLOYMENT AND ECONOMIC POLICY Essays in honour of Geoff Harcourt Volume Two Edited by Philip Arestis, Gabriel Palma and Malcolm Sawyer 8 SOCIAL ECONOMY The logic of capitalist development Clark Everling 9 NEW KEYNESIAN ECONOMICS/POST KEYNESIAN ALTERNATIVES Edited by Roy J.Rotheim 10 THE REPRESENTATIVE AGENT IN MACROECONOMICS James E.Hartley 11 BORDERLANDS OF ECONOMICS Essays in honour of Daniel R.Fusfeld Edited by Nahid Aslanbeigui and Young Back Choi 12 VALUE DISTRIBUTION AND CAPITAL Edited by Gary Mongiovi and Fabio Petri
iii
13 THE ECONOMICS OF SCIENCE James R.Wible 14 COMPETITIVENESS, LOCALISED LEARNING AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Specialization and prosperity in small open economies Peter Maskell, Heikki Eskelinen, Ingjaldur Hannibalsson, Anders Malmberg and Eirik Vatne 15 LABOUR MARKET THEORY A critical reassessment Ben J.Fine 16 WOMEN AND EUROPEAN EMPLOYMENT Jill Rubery, Mark Smith, Damian Grimshaw 17 EXPLORATIONS IN ECONOMIC METHODOLOGY From Lakatos to empirical philosophy of science Edited by Roger Backhouse 18 SUBJECTIVITY IN POLITICAL ECONOMY Essays on wanting and choosing David P.Levine
SUBJECTIVITY IN POLITICAL ECONOMY Essays on wanting and choosing
David P.Levine
London and New York
First published 1998 by Routledge