The ‘Dismal Science’ – Still? Economics and Human Flourishing
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12229554 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Mark A Lutz (University of Maine, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2008 |
| Volume | 20 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 163-180 |
| Publication date | 2008-04-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Review of Political Economy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0953-8259 • E-ISSN: 1465-3982 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/09538250701819594 |
| OpenAlex | W1985150399 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 44 |
This paper is an attempt to evaluate critically standard economic theory from the point of view of self-realization ethics and psychology. In doing so, there is considerable reliance on Abraham Maslow's well-known theory of personality development. According to his penetrating insight, it is insecurity that keeps a person trapped in a world of materialism – be it a desperate survival mentality, a preoccupation with excessive sexuality, or an unabashed and omnipresent consumerism. Feeling secure, on the other hand, opens the gates to psychological health and real personal autonomy. Over time there has accumulated a considerable amount of empirical evidence supporting such a Maslowian insecurity-materialism link. The present paper surveys the problem of economic insecurity, especially the anxiety of job loss. Since there is ample evidence that, in today's globalized world, this problem is quite serious and increasingly widespread, it would follow that Maslowian personality theory predicts a large part of the population finding it increasingly hard to embark on a life of personal flourishing. Economic theory, with its traditional emphasis on competitive markets for both output and input, its unflagging support of unregulated international trade and outsourcing, its tacit consent for the new lean, mean, and flexible corporation, and its purely instrumental treatment of work and workers, for all these reasons, must share much of the blame for what appears to be a massive stunting of personality development. In this regard, the dismal science of the nineteenth century may still warrant the same designation today
Economics · Epistemology · Flourishing · Maslow's hierarchy of needs · Materialism · Personality · Population · Positive economics · Sociology · Economic Theory and Institutions · Psychology · Social Psychology
The High Price of Materialism
Toward a psychology of being.
The Silent Revolution
Of Wealth and Death
Extrinsic Life Goals and Health‐Risk Behaviors in Adolescents 1
Maslow reconsidered
Freedom of the Will and the Concept of a Person
Sex differences in human mate preferences
R. Sennett (1998). Corrosion of Character
Symposium on Amartya Sen's philosophy
The Saturated Self
The Dynamics of Psychological Security-Insecurity
Fusions of facts and values
Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being
The dreams of people high and low in materialism
Effects of chronic job insecurity and change in job security on self reported health, minor psychiatric morbidity, physiological measures, and health related behaviours in British civil servants
Philosophy and Myth in Karl Marx
History of Economic Doctrines
Philosophy and Myth in Karl Marx
The relations of maternal and social environments to late adolescents' materialistic and prosocial values
A Picture of Job Insecurity Facing British Men
A History of Economic Doctrines
Wealth and Life
An Empirical Test of Maslow's Need Hierarchy Theory
A Marxist Theory of Self-Actualization
An Empirical Test of Maslow's Theory of Motivation
Personhood and Human Richness
The Silent Revolution in Europe
New Knowledge in Human Values
Gender differences in mate selection preferences
Toward a modern approach to values
Post-Materialism in an Environment of Insecurity
Economic Security and Value Change
Family Structure, Materialism, and Compulsive Consumption
The Peace Movement - Some Questions Concerning Its Social Nature and Structure
Caring Consumers
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,09 |
| Citation span | 2015 - 2015 (1) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |