Sympathy, evolution, and The Economist
Why did the classical economists' doctrine of innate human sociability and the problem of factions disappear? The social Darwinists who clustered around The Economist regarded sympathy, the social glue of small groups, as an impediment to racial perfection that allowed the "unfit" to survive. Classical political economists responded to the problem of factions by proposing that sympathetic concerns be extended to those outside the faction. Social Darwinists advocated narrowing sympathetic concerns. Although social Darwinism faded, sympathy was not returned to its early prominence and economists lost the ability to explain small group formation and the tyranny of the minority.
Year of publication: |
2009
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Authors: | Levy, David M. ; Peart, Sandra J. |
Published in: |
Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization. - Elsevier, ISSN 0167-2681. - Vol. 71.2009, 1, p. 29-36
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Publisher: |
Elsevier |
Keywords: | Sympathy Faction Spencer Bagehot Hayek Social Darwinist Tyranny of the minority |
Saved in:
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