Ethics as Social Science

'. . . this is a very ambitious book - ranging over a great deal of territory and a great number of issues . . . the general perspectives offered are certainly engaging.' -- Alan Hamlin, Journal of Economic Methodology '. . . an illuminating book, informed by careful thought and wide-ranging scholarship.' -- David Gordon, The Mises Review 'Economics claims to be a science of choice and its unintended consequences, but economists sneak moral judgments in through the back door. Ethics, on the other hand, often falters on the stilts of weak economic theories and assumptions. The result - economics without ethics is often sterile, and ethics without economics is often incoherent. Severed from one another, each can be dangerously misleading, and each misses the opportunity to better understand the economic and moral complexity behind social cooperation. Ethics as Social Science helps reconcile the two disciplines, and represents years of seasoned, careful thinking on the topic. Using clear, straightforward language, Yeager argues that economists should be alert to their ethical positions, rather than preach tacitly behind the mask of social welfare analysis and the like. Calling for a comparative institutional analysis, Yeager himself advances an argument in favor of an indirect or rule utilitarianism, one that is sure to unleash debate among libertarians, classical liberals, and defenders of mainstream welfare economics, and among moral philosophers who follow the present state of economic theory.' -- David L. Prychitko, Northern Michigan University, US

The late Leland B. Yeager, formerly Ludwig von Mises Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Economics, Auburn University and Paul Goodloe McIntire Professor of Economics Emeritus, University of Virginia, US

Contents: Preface 1. Ethics and Economics 2. Some Fundamentals 3. Origins of Ethics 4. The Case for Indirect Utilitarianism 5. What Counts as Utility? 6. The Alleged Problem of Aggregation 7. Is Utilitarianism Immoral? 8. Altruism and Self-Interest 9. Duty and Universalizability 10. Rivals of Utilitarianism 11. Law, Government, and Policy 12. Utilitarianism after All References Index