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Beyond Utilitarianism and Deontology: Ethics in Economics

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  • Irene Van Staveren

Abstract

This article starts from a methodological position that fact and value are mutually related, both in the real world and in economic analysis. It then discusses deontological ethics. This approach is concerned with equality and dignity, as expressed in right and norms, and how these rights and norms constrain individual choices. Deontology is thus different from the utility maximisation of utilitarian ethics, where ethics appears in utility functions as moral preferences. The paper then argues that, although deontology does better than utilitarianism in analysing ethics in economics, it has its own weaknesses. These weaknesses require another theory of ethics for economics, virtue ethics, which emphasises the interrelatedness of agents and commitment to shared values beyond the rules that a society has institutionalised. Virtue ethics internalises morality not as a preference or a constraint, but through the practices in which agents are related in their pursuit of value added.

Suggested Citation

  • Irene Van Staveren, 2007. "Beyond Utilitarianism and Deontology: Ethics in Economics," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(1), pages 21-35.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:revpoe:v:19:y:2007:i:1:p:21-35
    DOI: 10.1080/09538250601080776
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. van Staveren, I.P., 2000. "A conceptualisation of social capital in economics : commitment and spill-over effects," ISS Working Papers - General Series 19070, International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam (ISS), The Hague.
    2. Bruno S. Frey, 1997. "Not Just for the Money," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 1183.
    3. McCloskey, Deirdre Nansen, 2006. "The Bourgeois Virtues," University of Chicago Press Economics Books, University of Chicago Press, number 9780226556635, December.
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    14. Timothy C. Johnson, 2012. "Ethics and Finance: the role of mathematics," Papers 1210.5390, arXiv.org.
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