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Richard Whately and the Gospel of Transparency

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  • David Levy
  • Sandra J. Peart

Abstract

Whately is a difficult thinker, partly because he is competent in so many disciplines. Joseph Schumpeter, who struggled with Whatley's “elusive” greatness, saw a systematic core in Whately: the force behind Nassau Senior's axiomatics. Whately's contemporaries did not talk of axiomatics, but they did point out that his work depended upon an unusually small number of authorities, that is, Aristotle, Bacon, and Smith. In our interpretation, these foundational sources gave Whately three guiding principles to characterize all human activity: innate sociability, innate self‐love, and costly mental activity. Self‐love includes a desire to know and a desire to share knowledge. These principles, coupled with a normative principle of fairness, constitute the basis for his science of reciprocal exchange, or catallactics. Violations of fairness motivate his multidimensional reform proposals. For Whately, fairness requires transparency, and the demands of transparency for tractions is literally Gospel.

Suggested Citation

  • David Levy & Sandra J. Peart, 2010. "Richard Whately and the Gospel of Transparency," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 69(1), pages 166-187, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ajecsc:v:69:y:2010:i:1:p:166-187
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1536-7150.2009.00701.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. David M. Levy & Sandra J. Peart, 2005. "The Theory of Economic Policy in British Classical Political Economy: A Sympathetic Reading," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 37(5), pages 120-142, Supplemen.
    2. Ronald Coase, 2006. "Marshall on method," Chapters, in: Tiziano Raffaelli & Giacomo Becattini & Marco Dardi (ed.), The Elgar Companion to Alfred Marshall, chapter 21, pages 139-146, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    3. Sandra J. Peart, 2000. "Irrationality and intertemporal choice in early neoclassical thought," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 33(1), pages 175-189, February.
    4. David M. Levy, 2007. "The Puzzle of Jevons," History of Economic Ideas, Fabrizio Serra Editore, Pisa - Roma, vol. 15(3), pages 165-171.
    5. D. J. Bartholomew, 1988. "Probability, Statistics and Theology," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 151(1), pages 137-159, January.
    6. Levy, David M., 2001. "How the Dismal Science Got its Name: Debating Racial Quackery," Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Cambridge University Press, vol. 23(1), pages 5-35, March.
    7. Sandra J. Peart, 2000. "Irrationality and intertemporal choice in early neoclassical thought," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 33(1), pages 175-189, February.
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    Cited by:

    1. Ramos Gorostiza José Luis & Trincado Estrella, 2012. "John Stuart Mill on Spain," Journal des Economistes et des Etudes Humaines, De Gruyter, vol. 18(2), pages 1-25, November.
    2. Sandra J. Peart & David M. Levy, 2010. "Larry Moss and the Struggle Against Racism by the Whately Professors of Political Economy," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 69(1), pages 67-77, January.
    3. David Levy & Sandra Peart, 2012. "Tullock on motivated inquiry: expert-induced uncertainty disguised as risk," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 152(1), pages 163-180, July.

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