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The Acting Person: Reconstructing Economic Agency around a Living, Breathing, Existential Actuality

In: Toward a Good Society in the Twenty-First Century

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  • Edward J. O’Boyle

Abstract

Joseph Berliner argues that four sets of arrangements constitute the core of an economic system and therefore of the good society: who gets what, who gets the available jobs, how economic activities are coordinated, and who owns capital (Berliner 1999, 17). Our understanding of economic affairs, however, inclines more toward William Waters who identifies the four parts of what now is called personalist economics: person as the basic unit of the economy, who acts freely but within certain limits, whose economic behavior is grounded in reason and faith, and who has a dignity beyond measure (Waters 1988, 114–120). Though not readily apparent, there is a powerful connection between these two perspectives. While Berliner is concerned about economic systems, Waters and this essay are concerned about economic agency. Simply put, it is the economic agent—the acting person—who sets the economic system in motion.

Suggested Citation

  • Edward J. O’Boyle, 2013. "The Acting Person: Reconstructing Economic Agency around a Living, Breathing, Existential Actuality," Perspectives from Social Economics, in: Nikolaos Karagiannis & John Marangos (ed.), Toward a Good Society in the Twenty-First Century, chapter 0, pages 205-225, Palgrave Macmillan.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:pfschp:978-1-137-31362-1_10
    DOI: 10.1057/9781137313621_10
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