- Home
- ACADEMIC
- Philosophy
- Applied Ethics
- Ethics in a Capitalist Economy
You must sign in to add this item to your wishlist. Please sign in or create an account
Description
In a novel application of the work of neo-Aristotelian virtue ethics to the philosophy of business, Robert CB Miller argues that free-market capitalism requires virtues to mitigate its flaws and to enhance its strengths.
Ethics in a Capitalist Economy begins with an outline of modern virtue ethics, deriving from Aristotle and Aquinas and reinvigorated in the 20th century by writers including Elizabeth Anscombe and Philippa Foot. Taking up the idea that human nature determines the virtues, Miller sets out three types of virtue specific to economic activity: contractual, behavioural and entrepreneurial. With reference to major historical and contemporary thinkers including Adam Smith, John Locke, David Hume, Alasdair MacIntyre, Mary Midgeley and Steven Pinker, the book shows the flaws in the market economy and the ways in which these flaws can be mitigated by the application of particular virtues in order to encourage human flourishing. The book includes three case studies investigating the practice (or absence) of virtues in real world situations: on the career of Warren Buffett, on insights from behavioural economics and on the philanthropic efforts of business leaders.
This book combines practical considerations with a detailed and accessible reading of the theory of virtue ethics and its relation to human nature in political economy.
Table of Contents
List of Figures
Acknowledgements
A Note on Marc D. Hauser
Introduction
Part I: Human Nature And Virtue Ethics
1. Human Nature
2. Human Nature and Natural History
3. Human Nature Specifies the Virtues
Part II: Human Nature: Contract, Property, Specialisation and Welfare
4. Human Nature: Collaborative and Contractual
5. Property and Planning
6. Human Nature: Infinitary and Syntactic
7. The Division of Labour
8. Welfare and Human Flourishing
Part III: Describing the Economic Virtues
9. The Contractual Virtues
10. The Behavioural Virtues
12. Retrospect and Conclusion
Appendix
References
Index
Product details
| Published | 13 Nov 2025 |
|---|---|
| Format | Ebook (Epub & Mobi) |
| Edition | 1st |
| Extent | 264 |
| ISBN | 9781350515406 |
| Imprint | Bloomsbury Academic |
| Illustrations | 4 bw illustrations |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
About the contributors
Reviews
-
This important book shows how market economies exhibit and require virtues. The chapter on entrepreneurship is especially important. We do well to remember that a society which obstructs entrepreneurship may become miserably poor, but one in which entrepreneurs are vicious and not virtuous will struggle to promote human flourishing.
Philip Booth, Professor of Catholic Social Thought and Public Policy, St. Mary's University, UK
-
This book offers a novel account of the ethics of markets drawing upon the natural goodness approach of Foot and Thompson. In dialogue with psychologists like Pinker, organizational economists like Coase, and behavioural economists like Kahneman, Miller shows that human nature contains distinct powers that underwrite the human capacity to participate in mutually beneficial economic exchanges and requires distinct virtues to perfect these powers. It should be read widely by philosophers, business ethicists, management scholars, and economists interested in the ethical underpinnings of free markets.
Caleb Bernacchio, Legendre-Soulé Chair in Business Ethics, Loyola University New Orleans, USA
























