Overview

"This text reconstructs the intellectual climate of the 17th and 18th centuries to illuminate the intricate ideological transformation that occurred, wherein the pursuit of material interests was assigned the role of containing the unruly and destructive passions of man. The book offers an interpretation of the rise of capitalism that emphasizes the continuities between old and new, in contrast to the assumption of a sharp break that is a common feature of both Marxist and Weberian thinking. Among the insights presented in the book is the ironical finding that capitalism was originally supposed to accomplish exactly what was soon denounced as its worst feature: the repression of passions in favour of the ""harmless"", if one dimensional, interests of commercial life. To portray this lengthy ideological change as an endogenous process, the author draws on the writings of a large number of thinkers, including Montesquieu, Sir James Steuart and Adam Smith."

Full Product Details

Author:   Albert O. Hirschman ,  Amartya K. Sen
Publisher:   Princeton University Press
Imprint:   Princeton University Press
Edition:   Revised edition
Dimensions:   Width: 14.00cm , Height: 1.40cm , Length: 21.60cm
Weight:   0.227kg
ISBN:  

9780691015989

ISBN 10:   0691015988
Pages:   184
Publication Date:   26 January 1997
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  College/higher education ,  Professional & Vocational ,  Tertiary & Higher Education
Replaced By:   9781400848515
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Out of Print
Availability:   In Print  
Limited stock is available. It will be ordered for you and shipped pending supplier's limited stock.
Language:   English

Table of Contents

"Foreword Pt. 1How the Interests were Called Upon to Counteract the Passions The Idea of Glory and Its Downfall Man ""as he really is"" Repressing and Harnessing the Passions The Principle of the Countervailing Passion ""Interest"" and ""Interests"" as Tamers of the Passions Interest as a New Paradigm Assets of an Interest-Governed World: Predictability and Constancy Money-Making and Commerce as Innocent and Doux Money-Making as a Calm Passion Pt. 2How Economic Expansion was Expected to Improve the Political Order Elements of a Doctrine Related yet Discordant Views Pt. 3Reflections on an Episode in Intellectual History Where the Montesquieu-Steuart Vision Went Wrong The Promise of an Interest-Governed World versus the Protestant Ethnic Contemporary Notes Notes Index"

Reviews

Hirschman's volume stands as a principal contribution to the growing literature that is beginning to reshape our understanding of the legitimating beliefs undergirding the rise of the modern market economy. -- Robert Wuthnow American Journal of Sociology A fresh and exciting argument of a fascinating thesis. -- Nannerl O. Keohane Journal of Interdisciplinary History

Author Information

Albert O. Hirschman is a member of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. He is the author of many books, including the influential Exit, Voice, and Loyalty and The Strategy of Economic Development.

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