Which is the 'Self' in 'Self-Interest

Bibliographic Data

ID3250458
AuthorsPaul Dugay (The Open University, corresponding author)
Year2005
Volume53
Issue3
Pages391-411
Publication date2005-08-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Sociological Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0038-0261 • E-ISSN: 1467-954X
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1111/j.1467-954x.2005.00558.x
OpenAlexW1806260080
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited16

This article contends that homogenisation of the term 'self-interest' - in sociological and economic discourse - has resulted in many misconceptions about what particular doctrines of 'self-interest' were instituted to achieve at certain historical periods and in specific cultural milieux. At its worst, the article argues, this has led to a misunderstanding of the import of particular doctrines of self interest, which are read in terms of general tradition - such as that which views self-interested conduct as a natural faculty - rather than in terms of the context specific aims of those advocating them. The article attempts to show how, historically, there have been quite significant changes in the characterisation of the 'self' deemed to be 'self-interested'. In particular, it focuses on the 'self' of certain early modern conceptions of self interest, and suggests this creation is best viewed not as a subjectivity transcendentally presupposed by experience, but as one historically cultivated to counter the exigencies of particular circumstances - the disaster of perpetual 'warre' in 17th century Europe - and to meet the purposes of a certain way of life - existence in the civitas

Context (archaeology) · Epistemology · Political science · Self · Self-interest · Social science · Sociology · Subjectivity · American Constitutional Law and Politics · History · Law · Philosophy · Political Theory and Influence · Weber, Simmel, Sociological Theory

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