The Worldly Philosophers

The Worldly Philosophers is a bestselling classic that not only enables us to see more deeply into our history but helps us better understand our own times. In this seventh edition, Robert L. Heilbroner provides a new theme that connects thinkers as diverse as Adam Smith and Karl Marx. The theme is the common focus of their highly varied ideas -- namely, the search to understand how a capitalist society works. It is a focus never more needed than in this age of confusing economic headlines.In a bold new concluding chapter entitled "The End of the Worldly Philosophy?" Heilbroner reminds us that the word "end" refers to both the purpose and limits of economics. This chapter conveys a concern that today's increasingly "scientific" economics may overlook fundamental social and political issues that are central to economics. Thus, unlike its predecessors, this new edition provides not just an indispensable illumination of our past but a call to action for our future.

Contents

I Introduction

II The Economic Revolution

III The Wonderful World of Adam Smith

IV The Gloomy Presentiments of Parson Malthus and David Ricardo

V The Dreams of the Utopian Socialists

VI The Inexorable System of Karl Marx

VII The Victorian World and the Underworld of Economics

VIII The Savage Society of Thorstein Veblen

IX The Heresies of John Maynard Keynes

X The Contradictions of Joseph Schumpeter

XI The End of the Worldly Philosophy?

A Guide to Further Reading

Notes

Index