Проблема Мотивации Хозяйственной Деятельности: Исторический Аспект

This article analyzes how the motives behind economical activity have been studied in literature. The author surveys a range of ideas, starting from the 12-th century and continuing up to the 19-th ccntury. The author demonstrates that this topic had already been formulated by scholars in the Middle Ages. For example, in the 12 th century Thomas Aquinas elucidated various religious motives which tended to compel towards specific kinds of economic activity. Representatives of the classical school by and large dealt with the subject of motivation only as a secondary problem. Motivational issues were discussed mainly in the context of the theory of wages (i.e. the share in the whole sum of national goods which should be accredited to wage labor) which at the time was seen as more urgent. In general, classical economists held a wide array of views concerning the nature of motivations for work. The article pays particular attention to Adam Smith's concept of «economic man» which continues to contribute to our knowledge of the driving forces behind the modern market economy. The legacy of Marx holds particular interest for modern readers because ofhis original analysis of the psychology of the labor force during the early period of capitalist formation. Moreover, Marx attempted to derive a model for economic motivation in a possible future communistic society. Both of these Marxian approaches are considered in this article.