From Exploitation to Altruism

Ricardo, Marx, Jevons and Wicksteed all feature prominently in the following twelve essays - and, indeed, a number of other economists of the past, from Cantillon onwards, will be found to play a role. Nevertheless, these essays do not, for the most part, constitute history of thought for the genuine historian of thought; they are, rather, attempts to broach more general issues via a tolerably close study of particular texts. The first six essays concern issues in classical political economy, particularly - though not exclusively - that of Ricardo and Marx. The previously unpublished essay 7 provides a bridge to the second half of the volume, discussing Wicksteed's first work in political economy, his 1884 J evonian critique of Marx, and some of the debates which that work provoked. Jevons and Wicksteed are also central to essays 8-10. The final three essays (of which 10 and 11 were previously not readily available) are all concerned with various aspects of preferences and of the complex motivations lying behind economic actions. Are the following essays, then, to be classified as 'history of economic thought' or as 'economic theory'? No, they are not: such classification would be futile. What matters is whether or not they are honest in the rendering of other writers' works, accurate in reasoning and both stimulating and enjoyable to read.