On Ethics and Economics [Paperback]

Amartya Sen (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0631164014 | ISBN-13: 978-0631164012 | Publication Date: January 16, 1991

In this elegant critique, Amartya Sen argues that welfare economics can be enriched by paying more explicit attention to ethics, and that modern ethical studies can also benefit from a closer contact with economies. He argues further that even predictive and descriptive economics can be helped by making more room for welfare-economic considerations in the explanation of behaviour.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Sen is one of the true pioneers in modern economics. He has, in effect, created a new branch of the subject... which might one day change mainstream economics beyond recognition." The Economist

"Professor Sen's thoughts on both philosophy and economics are not only highly original but they are ... presented with a compelling and consummate literary skill." Times Higher Education Supplement

"Sen has never acknowledged a boundary between economics and ethics. He brings philosophical arguments to bear where they are needed in economics, and combines them skillfully with formal analysis." London Review of Books

From the Back Cover

In this elegant critique, Amartya Sen argues that a closer contact between welfare economics and modern ethical studies can substantively enrich and benefit both disciplines. He argues further that even predictive and descriptive economics can be helped by making more room for welfare economic considerations in the explanation of behavior, especially in production relations, which inevitably involve problems of cooperation as well as conflict. The concept of rationality of behaviour is thoroughly proved in this context, with particular attention paid to social interdependence and internal tensions within consequentialist reasoning. In developing his general theme, Sen also investigates some related matters; the misinterpretation of Adam Smith's views on the role of self-seeking; the plausibility of an objectivist approach that attaches importance to subjective evaluations; and the admissibility of incompleteness and of 'inconsistencies' in the form of overcompleteness in rational evaluation. Sen also explores the role and importance of freedom in assessing well-being as well as choice. Sen's contributions to economics and ethics have greatly strengthened the theoretical bases of both disciplines; this appraisal of the connections between the two subjects and their possible development will be welcomed for the clarity and depth it contributes to the debate. These essays are based on the Royer Lectures delivered at the University of California, Berkeley.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 148 pages
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell (January 16, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0631164014
• ISBN-13: 978-0631164012
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #263,200 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sen - But not at it's best, March 4, 2004

By 

Michael Greinecker (Vienna, Austria) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: On Ethics and Economics (Paperback)

This short book consists of three lectures.

In the first lecture Sen mainly argues that economic agents shouldn't be modelled as completely self centered. He argues that real individuals don't behave that way. I think that's fairly obvious and the reason people have often be modelled as egoistic is technical convenience. Other than that, he argues that rationality should mean more than consistent actions. Point taken. Since more work is done today that isn't based on selfcentered individuals, the lecture is of somewhat minor importance. But if you think all people act in an egoistic fashion (at least in an economic environment), read that part.

The second lecture is IMO the best one. Sen looks on the impact utilitarianism had on economics at identifies the parts utilitarianism is made of. He the goes on to argue that these parts are independent and that their merit should be judged independently. He shows several roads one can take without accepting utilitarianism in its totality.

In the third lecture Sen takes a look at the proper scope of social choice theory and things that should be incorporated but aren't yet. It's fairly good but nothing spectacular.

Apart from the rough outline given, the worth of the book lies in little remarks Sen makes on a number of topics. These remarks make one think and reconsider ones position.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Can a thermometer cure the illness?, May 13, 2003

By 

Andy Blunden (Brunswick, Victoria Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: On Ethics and Economics (Paperback)

Amartya Sen makes a number of specific criticisms of utilitarianism which are his own. The most significant of these is the criticism of “utilityâ€� as a measure of well-being. He rightly points out that “functioningâ€� is a more rational measure of well-being than opulence â€" command over a mass of commodities, or utility â€" the value of desired objects. People can use things they command, whether purchased or enjoyed by nature, in order to achieve a level of functionality in life, but the level of functionality achieved is dependent on numerous factors over and above the things used. A landless peasant may be very “happyâ€� at getting a pile of straw to sleep on for the night, and may have no “desireâ€� for crepes suzette, but neither fact contributes anything to a measure of their well-being. Functionality, however, is amenable to perfectly objective measurement: life expectancy, freedom from illness, level of education, freedom, access to love ones, etc.. Measurement of expenditure on food, medicines, educational services, transport etc., indicates only the effort taken under given conditions to achieve a level of functionality, but this may be as much inversely related to the degree of functionality achieved as directly related. The more a person is subject to crime, the more they spend on crime prevention, the more unhealthy a person is, the more they spend on medicine. Public policy can therefore only measure its own success by the summation of functionality or capability.

On top of this, Sen points out that even the level of functionality achieved is not a proper measure; in the first place, someone may not want to achieve a certain functionality, and in the second place, such a capability (such as the ability to do violence to other people) may not be morally valued by the community as a whole. Therefore, the more ephemeral capability is the true measure of well-being, rather than achieved functionality.

Utilitarianism is a justification for free-market capitalism. The phenomena described in the dot points above are all too familiar phenomena of the action of the free market. They are not just “anomalies� for utilitarianism, they are its unambiguous expression. The point of utilitatarianism is simply to prove that all these abominations are “the best of all possible worlds� ridiculed three hundred years ago by Voltaire.

It is clear enough that utilitarian ethics is simply a justification for free-market economics which has the superficial appearance of intuitive validity. So there is value in criticising utilitarianism, in exposing its fraudulent character, and in trying to produce an alternative measure of the goodness of a state of affairs. Such a measure could be used to legitimise public policy which is not aimed just at maximising the accumulation of capital.

“Green economics� has had a similar aim, to encourage governments to keep statistics on values which are external to the economy (such as forests and rivers, clean air and so on) so that the government has available a measure of its success or failure, alternative to the calculation of GDP.

The great advantage of utilitarianism in its most naïve and primitive form, is that it fairly well captures the real ethic of capitalism. That is, it is very poor ethics, but reasonably good economics. (I say “reasonably good� because of course no real person ever acts as the narrowly self-interested infinitely well-informed computer which utilitarian economic assumes them to be.) The definition of the free economic agent which constitutes the definition of the person for utilitarianism is the basis for the exchange of commodities at their value, and constitutes the ideal condition for the accumulation of capital.

Sen raises the deeper question raised by the critique of utilitarianism as public policy, as to what, if any, justification is there for presuming that in a community there is any agent having the legitimacy to choose one state of affairs over another and determine public policy accordingly, at all. Or, more specifically, where such legitimacy may lie. To construct a theory of capability-utilitarianism still supposes that the agency which collects the data on capability and enforces laws aimed at maximising it has the legitimacy to do so.

And incidentally, the project also raises the question of the capability to do so.

Utilitarianism in its naïve form was nothing but an apology for the naked rule of capital, whose function is to advise governments to let the market do its work without interference, to justify self-seeking by “proving� that the greatest good for the greatest number is achieved by unfettered individualistic self-seeking. As a guide to public policy therefore it was simply an advice to do as little as possible, within the limits imposed by avoiding or suppressing riot, revolution and war.

Once we say that, actually, the market does not produce the greatest well-being for the greatest number, or any version of social justice at all, then the provision of a measuring scale is a fairly marginal contribution to doing something about the problem.

On the one hand we have an economic system, capitalism, based on the free exchange of commodities at their value, whose outcome is the concentration of economic and therefore political power in the hands of a few, and on the other hand a state and governmental machine which aims to measure and regulate this economy. Perhaps being in possession of a sound critique of utilitarian ethics makes it easy to interfere in the market with a good conscience, but we are still a long way short of an ethic which can implement a general improvement of living capabilities.

The thermometer can tell the doctor when you have a fever, can cannot cure the illness. Most people don’t need a thermometer to know when they have a fever.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good for those that need more, June 6, 2009

By 

Matthew "Class - C Economist" (Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: On Ethics and Economics (Paperback)

This is a great short book for those pesky economics students that can't just take the "rationality" assumption and move on to the math and statistics.

Its a very quick read, but offers a nearly infinite number of references for those that need even more.