Amos Witztum
Datos Biográficos
| ID | 700050 |
|---|---|
| NOMBRE | Amos Witztum |
| NOMBRES | Amos |
| APELLIDO | Witztum |
| FIRMA | WITZTUM A |
| AFILIACIONES | London Metropolitan University |
| ORCID | 0009-0000-0300-294X |
| VERIFICADO | Sí |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 19 |
| TOTAL DE CITAS | 22 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 19 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 0 |
| PRIMER AÑO DE PUBLICACIÓN | 1990 |
| AÑO MÁS RECIENTE DE PUBLICACIÓN | 2024 |
| ÍNDICE H | 3 |
Values, prices and natural liberty
Natural liberty is a powerful idea of social order. However, a tension has always existed between its reality and social values. Here, I try to identify where the fault line may lie between an order that fulfils social expectation and one that does not. I claim that throughout history, this fault line had been manifested in the distinction drawn between the concepts of price and value. The first emerges in markets and the second reflects social e…
Positive Endogenous Ethics
There are two elements which make Smith’s ethics unique as well as more universal in nature. The first is that it is a positive theory of ethics in the sense that it is not about what is intrinsically good or just as it is about the way in which people form their opinion about it. The second is that it is embedded in social context in the sense that what lies behind the way in which people form their moral opinion is socially dependent as well as…
Contemporary radical reflections on the principles of economics – Special issue in memory of Mario Nuti
This paper, and the Special Issue that it introduces, is written in the memory of Professor Domenico Mario Nuti who passed away in December 2020. 1 We decided that in remembering Mario, we would want to put a greater emphasis on the critique and limitations of modern economics. In devising this Special Issue, we therefore decided to approach individuals who have spent a great deal of their research life questioning certain aspects of modern econo…
History Starts Now
Sympathetic as I am to Piketty’s burning desire to expose the ever-increasing inequalities in wealth and to alert the world to the difficulties associated with it, I found the reading of his recent tome, Capital and Ideology, difficult to digest. Paul Krugman notes in his review of the book in the New York Times that in part, the extent of the book (both in terms of length and cover), may reflect a lack of focus. To me, however, it was the appare…
The Betrayal of Liberal Economics
Keynes’s Misguided Revolution
Keynes’s General Theory is nothing of the sort. Instead, it has been a theory about those who are outside the system. In so doing, Keynes distracted the attention of economics from what concerned the classical school: the fate of those inside the system. While it is true that from the neo-classical perspective, competitive models do not need help, classical economists thought otherwise. For scholars like Smith and Mill, the competitive paradigm w…
Keynes’s Misguided Revolution
La Théorie générale de Keynes n’est en rien une théorie générale. Au lieu de cela, c’est une théorie sur ceux qui sont en dehors du système. Par ce moyen, Keynes a détourné l’attention de la science économique d’une préoccupation de l’école classique : le destin de ceux qui sont à l’intérieur du système. Même s’il est vrai que dans la perspective néo-classique, les modèles concurrentiels n’ont pas besoin d’être soutenus, les économistes classique…
Social Dimensions of Individualistic Rationality
We re-examine the introduction of social dimensions into the economic conception of individual rationality. Most contributions in this area adopt the rational utility maximizer by adding social aspects into the domain of the agent's consideration. Thus, an inconsistency is created between sociality and opportunism. We overcome this by employing the Weberian distinction between instrumental and expressive rationality. It does not require the incre…
Ethics and the Science of Economics
The basic principles of Robbins's Essay on the Nature and Significance of Economic Science are still present in most textbooks in economics. We thus face a combined problem of historical and contemporary nature. Robbins's assertion concerning the ethics–economics relationship has two main difficulties. Firstly, the presumption of means–ends analysis, which is oblivious of the ends people seek to promote, is not as neutral as it appears. Robbins c…
Interdependence, the Invisible Hand, and Equilibrium in Adam Smith
The question of whether there is general equilibrium in Adam Smith lies at the heart of the battlefield between those who wish to see Smith as a precursor of modern economics and those who see in his writing an alternative system. In this article I will argue that it is possible for general equilibrium to be present in Smith and yet, for his system to be an alternative to, rather than a precursor of, modern economics. I will show that coordinatio…
Smith's theory of actions and the moral significance of unintended consequences
An important clue to the ambiguity in Smith's attitudes towards commercial society may lie in his disaffection with natural distributions; with distributions based on unintended consequences. The absence of proportionality between motives and outcomes dooms the morality of commercial society, not the mere absence of an ethical dimension to human character. Through the analysis of actions, we find correspondence between the three economic states o…
The Neglected Agent
Research Article| September 01 2006 The Neglected Agent: Justice, Power, and Distribution in Adam Smith Amos Witztum; Amos Witztum Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Jeffrey T. Young Jeffrey T. Young Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google History of Political Economy (2006) 38 (3): 437–471. https://doi.org/10.1215/00182702-2006-002 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplemen…
Social Circumstances and Rationality
Upon the uniformity in individuals' decision-making mechanism rests a great deal of the legitimacy of natural liberty. As we are all equally sovereign (cognitive-wise), we only strike deals that inevitably make us better off. We all gain from trade and thus, as everyone is better off, so must be the whole of society. But could it be that people are rational yet not equally sovereign? In this paper, we examine Smith's interpretation of rationality…
Editors' Report
Editors’ Report
A Study into Smith's Conception of the Human Character
Research Article| September 01 1998 A Study into Smith's Conception of the Human Character: Das Adam Smith Problem Revisited Amos Witztum Amos Witztum 1 Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google History of Political Economy (1998) 30 (3): 489–513. https://doi.org/10.1215/00182702-30-3-489 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Permissions Search Site Citation Amos Witztum; A Study into Smith's Conception…
Distributive Considerations in Smith's Conception of Economic Justice
In spite of the numerous occasions on which Adam Smith expresses his reservations regarding the morality of commercial societies, there seems to be an agreement that he believed such systems to be fundamentally just. To some, this is so because they attribute to Smith a concept of justice which is narrowly confined to the ‘right to have [one's] body free from injury, and [one's] liberty free from infringement’ ( Lectures on Jurisprudence , p. 401…
Science, Rationality, and Neoclassical Economics
Journal Article Science, Rationality, and Neoclassical Economics Get access Science, Rationality, and Neoclassical Economics. By (L. D.) Keita. (London: Associated University Presses, 1992. Pp. 187. £23.00 hardback. ISBN 0 87413 410 2.) Amos Witztum Amos Witztum London Guildhall University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Economic Journal, Volume 103, Issue 421, 1 November 1993, Pages 1578–1582, https:/…
Ricardo's Economics
Together with Marx's Economics and Walras' Economics this book completes a sequence by Professor Morishima on the first generation of scientific economists. The author concentrates on Ricardo's main work, The Principles, and shows that his economics is the prototype of mathematical economics without the symbols and formulae. Morishima then translates Ricardo's economics into mathematical language to find a general equilibrium system concealed wit…
Interdependence, the Invisible Hand, and Equilibrium in Adam Smith
The question of whether there is general equilibrium in Adam Smith lies at the heart of the battlefield between those who wish to see Smith as a precursor of modern economics and those who see in his writing an alternative system. In this article I will argue that it is possible for general equilibrium to be present in Smith and yet, for his system to be an alternative to, rather than a precursor of, modern economics. I will show that coordinatio…
The Neglected Agent
Research Article| September 01 2006 The Neglected Agent: Justice, Power, and Distribution in Adam Smith Amos Witztum; Amos Witztum Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Jeffrey T. Young Jeffrey T. Young Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google History of Political Economy (2006) 38 (3): 437–471. https://doi.org/10.1215/00182702-2006-002 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplemen…
A Study into Smith's Conception of the Human Character
Research Article| September 01 1998 A Study into Smith's Conception of the Human Character: Das Adam Smith Problem Revisited Amos Witztum Amos Witztum 1 Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google History of Political Economy (1998) 30 (3): 489–513. https://doi.org/10.1215/00182702-30-3-489 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Permissions Search Site Citation Amos Witztum; A Study into Smith's Conception…
Social Circumstances and Rationality
Upon the uniformity in individuals' decision-making mechanism rests a great deal of the legitimacy of natural liberty. As we are all equally sovereign (cognitive-wise), we only strike deals that inevitably make us better off. We all gain from trade and thus, as everyone is better off, so must be the whole of society. But could it be that people are rational yet not equally sovereign? In this paper, we examine Smith's interpretation of rationality…
History Starts Now
Sympathetic as I am to Piketty’s burning desire to expose the ever-increasing inequalities in wealth and to alert the world to the difficulties associated with it, I found the reading of his recent tome, Capital and Ideology, difficult to digest. Paul Krugman notes in his review of the book in the New York Times that in part, the extent of the book (both in terms of length and cover), may reflect a lack of focus. To me, however, it was the appare…
Ricardo's Economics
Together with Marx's Economics and Walras' Economics this book completes a sequence by Professor Morishima on the first generation of scientific economists. The author concentrates on Ricardo's main work, The Principles, and shows that his economics is the prototype of mathematical economics without the symbols and formulae. Morishima then translates Ricardo's economics into mathematical language to find a general equilibrium system concealed wit…
Science, Rationality, and Neoclassical Economics
Journal Article Science, Rationality, and Neoclassical Economics Get access Science, Rationality, and Neoclassical Economics. By (L. D.) Keita. (London: Associated University Presses, 1992. Pp. 187. £23.00 hardback. ISBN 0 87413 410 2.) Amos Witztum Amos Witztum London Guildhall University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Economic Journal, Volume 103, Issue 421, 1 November 1993, Pages 1578–1582, https:/…
Distributive Considerations in Smith's Conception of Economic Justice
In spite of the numerous occasions on which Adam Smith expresses his reservations regarding the morality of commercial societies, there seems to be an agreement that he believed such systems to be fundamentally just. To some, this is so because they attribute to Smith a concept of justice which is narrowly confined to the ‘right to have [one's] body free from injury, and [one's] liberty free from infringement’ ( Lectures on Jurisprudence , p. 401…
A Study into Smith's Conception of the Human Character
Research Article| September 01 1998 A Study into Smith's Conception of the Human Character: Das Adam Smith Problem Revisited Amos Witztum Amos Witztum 1 Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google History of Political Economy (1998) 30 (3): 489–513. https://doi.org/10.1215/00182702-30-3-489 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Permissions Search Site Citation Amos Witztum; A Study into Smith's Conception…
Editors’ Report
Editors' Report
Social Circumstances and Rationality
Upon the uniformity in individuals' decision-making mechanism rests a great deal of the legitimacy of natural liberty. As we are all equally sovereign (cognitive-wise), we only strike deals that inevitably make us better off. We all gain from trade and thus, as everyone is better off, so must be the whole of society. But could it be that people are rational yet not equally sovereign? In this paper, we examine Smith's interpretation of rationality…
The Neglected Agent
Research Article| September 01 2006 The Neglected Agent: Justice, Power, and Distribution in Adam Smith Amos Witztum; Amos Witztum Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Jeffrey T. Young Jeffrey T. Young Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google History of Political Economy (2006) 38 (3): 437–471. https://doi.org/10.1215/00182702-2006-002 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplemen…
Smith's theory of actions and the moral significance of unintended consequences
An important clue to the ambiguity in Smith's attitudes towards commercial society may lie in his disaffection with natural distributions; with distributions based on unintended consequences. The absence of proportionality between motives and outcomes dooms the morality of commercial society, not the mere absence of an ethical dimension to human character. Through the analysis of actions, we find correspondence between the three economic states o…
Interdependence, the Invisible Hand, and Equilibrium in Adam Smith
The question of whether there is general equilibrium in Adam Smith lies at the heart of the battlefield between those who wish to see Smith as a precursor of modern economics and those who see in his writing an alternative system. In this article I will argue that it is possible for general equilibrium to be present in Smith and yet, for his system to be an alternative to, rather than a precursor of, modern economics. I will show that coordinatio…
Ethics and the Science of Economics
The basic principles of Robbins's Essay on the Nature and Significance of Economic Science are still present in most textbooks in economics. We thus face a combined problem of historical and contemporary nature. Robbins's assertion concerning the ethics–economics relationship has two main difficulties. Firstly, the presumption of means–ends analysis, which is oblivious of the ends people seek to promote, is not as neutral as it appears. Robbins c…
Social Dimensions of Individualistic Rationality
We re-examine the introduction of social dimensions into the economic conception of individual rationality. Most contributions in this area adopt the rational utility maximizer by adding social aspects into the domain of the agent's consideration. Thus, an inconsistency is created between sociality and opportunism. We overcome this by employing the Weberian distinction between instrumental and expressive rationality. It does not require the incre…
Keynes’s Misguided Revolution
Keynes’s General Theory is nothing of the sort. Instead, it has been a theory about those who are outside the system. In so doing, Keynes distracted the attention of economics from what concerned the classical school: the fate of those inside the system. While it is true that from the neo-classical perspective, competitive models do not need help, classical economists thought otherwise. For scholars like Smith and Mill, the competitive paradigm w…
Keynes’s Misguided Revolution
La Théorie générale de Keynes n’est en rien une théorie générale. Au lieu de cela, c’est une théorie sur ceux qui sont en dehors du système. Par ce moyen, Keynes a détourné l’attention de la science économique d’une préoccupation de l’école classique : le destin de ceux qui sont à l’intérieur du système. Même s’il est vrai que dans la perspective néo-classique, les modèles concurrentiels n’ont pas besoin d’être soutenus, les économistes classique…
The Betrayal of Liberal Economics
History Starts Now
Sympathetic as I am to Piketty’s burning desire to expose the ever-increasing inequalities in wealth and to alert the world to the difficulties associated with it, I found the reading of his recent tome, Capital and Ideology, difficult to digest. Paul Krugman notes in his review of the book in the New York Times that in part, the extent of the book (both in terms of length and cover), may reflect a lack of focus. To me, however, it was the appare…
Contemporary radical reflections on the principles of economics – Special issue in memory of Mario Nuti
This paper, and the Special Issue that it introduces, is written in the memory of Professor Domenico Mario Nuti who passed away in December 2020. 1 We decided that in remembering Mario, we would want to put a greater emphasis on the critique and limitations of modern economics. In devising this Special Issue, we therefore decided to approach individuals who have spent a great deal of their research life questioning certain aspects of modern econo…
Positive Endogenous Ethics
There are two elements which make Smith’s ethics unique as well as more universal in nature. The first is that it is a positive theory of ethics in the sense that it is not about what is intrinsically good or just as it is about the way in which people form their opinion about it. The second is that it is embedded in social context in the sense that what lies behind the way in which people form their moral opinion is socially dependent as well as…
Values, prices and natural liberty
Natural liberty is a powerful idea of social order. However, a tension has always existed between its reality and social values. Here, I try to identify where the fault line may lie between an order that fulfils social expectation and one that does not. I claim that throughout history, this fault line had been manifested in the distinction drawn between the concepts of price and value. The first emerges in markets and the second reflects social e…
Economics (14 obras) · Economic Theory and Institutions (12 obras) · Neoclassical economics (10 obras) · Philosophy (8 obras) · Political science (8 obras) · Sociology (8 obras) · Law (7 obras) · Political Economy and Marxism (7 obras) · Positive economics (7 obras) · Economic Theory and Policy (6 obras)