Thomas Chalmers
The Market, Moral Conduct, and Social Order
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4854380 |
|---|---|
| Authors | William Dixon, William G Dixon (0000-0001-5881-4857), David Wilson (0000-0002-6800-6447), David Carl Wilson (0000-0002-7098-3634) |
| Year | 2010 |
| Volume | 42 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 723-746 |
| Publication date | 2010-11-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | History of Political Economy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0018-2702 • E-ISSN: 1527-1919 |
| Publisher | Duke University Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1215/00182702-2010-035 |
| OpenAlex | W1969254980 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 12 |
Combining elements of Adam Smith's third-party perspective with the evangelical view of life as a trial, Thomas Chalmers argued for a market-based social order. The viability of this order would depend on the capacity to develop character in response to the choices made possible by the market itself. Character could replace administrative interventions. Chalmers saw well-intentioned administration, especially with respect to the poor laws, as both crowding out inner motivations and creating a focus for the fermenting of dissent over the terms of "legal charity." Better, he thought, that there should be a reform in the composition of wages, abolishing all allowances, to foster the independence of workers and also then willing and productive work. The latter could be the basis of improving material and moral conditions
Dissent · Economics · Independence (probability theory · Law and economics · Moral character · Order (exchange · Perspective (graphical · Political science · Positive economics · Sociology · Work (physics · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Experimental Behavioral Economics Studies · Law · Political Philosophy and Ethics
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |