Review by Choice Review
This volume is a massive attempt to alter any notions of value-free economics. The claim is that a rational-ethical point of view is already embedded in the concept of any rational social science. After describing the nature of human morality in terms similar to Adam Smith's sympathy and Lawrence Kohlberg's stages of moral development, Ulrich (Univ. of St. Gallen, Switzerland) highlights moral thinking from the Old Testament, Adam Smith, and Immanuel Kant. He then provides an extensive critique of positive economics and its mechanistic markets, and a historical sketch of how market outcomes became moral standards of the system. According to Ulrich, from classical economics to Pareto welfare analysis, economic theory has failed to speak to the ethics of the "lifeworld." The remainder of the book develops a rational moral framework for a flourishing human life lived by an economic citizen in the context of a corporate setting, a regulated market, and the public sphere. The journey through this insightful analysis will cause deep moral reflection for many, regardless of their current moral anchors. This book, a translation of a German work, is challenging but well worth the effort for those working in the areas of economic methodology and moral reflection in economics. Summing Up: Recommended. Researchers and faculty. J. Halteman Wheaton College
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
