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207F Amerini, Tommaso d’Aquino. Origine e fine della vita umana (review)Rivista di Filosofia Neo-Scolastica 102 (4): 716-718. 2010.Amerini declares that by this book he did not want to make any contribution to the contemporary bioethical debate, or in another way, he wanted to give a preliminary contribution of great importance. His opinion on the implications of Aquinas's embryological theory for today's bioethical debate is in fact that it "certainly has some bioethical consequences, but it does not give rise to one particular bioethical theory rather than another. It is, as said, a philosophical explanation, traced in te…Read more
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190D Marconi (ed.), La formalizzazione della dialettica. Hegel, Marx e la logica contemporanea (review)Rivista di Filosofia Neo-Scolastica 72 743-748. 1980.
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165M Milgate & SC Stimson, Ricardian Politics (review)European Journal of the History of Economic Thought 1 (3): 642-643. 1994.The book is quite convincing as far as it argues more autonomy from Mill and a more pro-working-class picture than the received image of Ricardo allows for. A severe pitfall is having ignored the relevance of Unitarianism as a matrix of political radicalism. A related defect is not having exploited less obvious sources than those included in Sraffa’s edition.
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104A Pandolfi, Généalogie et dialectique de la raison mercantiliste (review)European Journal of the History of Economic Thought 6 (4): 644-645. 1999.I argue that the word mercantilism, born in the beginning from a nasty rhetorical move by Adam Smith, still preserves so much evocative power as to be used emblematically as a name for a whole historical period because of its natural use as a label for aggressive and unfair economic policies but, for analytic purposes we should bring to an end cross-purpose talk between historians of ideas and historians of society.
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178S Rashid, The Myth of Adam Smith (review)European Journal of the History of Economic Thought 6 (1): 314-316. 1999.My objections are: first, we may ask whether the achievement of The Wealth of Nations has been that of creating a new and more encompassing conceptual framework where already existing theoretical elements could be integrated and whether the growth of knowledge could have originated from a growth in the consistency of a theoretical framework which synthesized already existing individual elements; secondly, we may ask whether Smith's "tendentious" presentation of the positions of both predecessors…Read more
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141R Calderón Cuadrado, Armonía de interéses y modernidad. Radicales del pensamiento económico (review)European Journal of the History of Economic Thought 6 (4): 652-653. 1999.I suggest that the image of Adam Smith suffers from an emphasis on the role of “utilitarian calculus”, besides on overlooking the role of a “Stoic” point of view from which vanity, selfishness, and even enlightened self-interest are ultimately valueless, and finally a restricted view of prudence.
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176N Sigot, Bentham et l'économie (review)European Journal of the History of Economic Thought 10 (1): 167-172. 2003.I discuss the interpretation of the principle of utility as a factual statement, the relevance of Halévy's interetation of Bentham, and then Bentham's relationship with James Mill and David Ricardo.
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204JB Davis, The Theory of the Individual in Economics. Identity and Value (review)History of Economic Ideas 12 (3): 125-129. 2004.I argue that Adam Smith does more than providing an account of competitive behavior loosely linked to an underlying psychology since the joint between the complex psychology of The Theory of Moral Sentiments and the invisible hand pages in The Wealth of Nations explains why some of the basest affections, greed and ambition, prevail over other tendencies in certain social groups, namely merchants and manufacturers, in a commercial and urban society.
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173GEM Anscombe, Faith in a Hard Ground: Essays on Religion, Philosophy and Ethics (review)Rivista di Filosofia Neo-Scolastica 101 (4): 587-590. 2009.I discuss this collection of published and unpublished essays on religion and ethics by GEM Anscombe edited by Mary Geach and Luke Gormally. My main doubt concerns the criteria on which papers have been included in this volume. I argue that, while part of the material included typically belongs to a discussion between believers, some of these are good examples of applied ethics with no direct link with the Christian faith and addressed to a universal audience of reasonable partners of conversati…Read more
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263Review of Ch.M.A. Clark, Economic Theory and Natural Philosophy. (review)European Journal of the History of Economic Thought 1 (2): 356-359. 1990.A review of Ch.M.A. Clark, Economic Theory and Natural Philosophy. The Search for the Natural Laws of the Economy. The key point of my critical appraisal is lack of univocal definition of nature, natural law and natural philosophy.
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213Review of D. Wilson and W. Dixon, A History of Homo Economicus (review)History of Economic Ideas 19 (3): 224-227. 2012.A critical discussion of DAVID WILSON and WILLIAM DIXON, A History of Homo Economicus. The nature of the moral in economic theory, London and New York, Routledge, pp. xviii+123 ISBN 978-0-415-59568-1. I declare agreement with one basic idea in this book, that economic discourse is performative, or economic theory is not pure theorìa. I add several objections to the historical reconstruction carried out os such authors as Malthus and Ricardo and I object to the definition adopted of homo econo…Read more
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212Review of M. Bessone and M. Biziou (eds.), Adam Smith philosophe. De la morale à l’économie ou philosophie du libéralisme (review)The Adam Smith Review 6 359-364. 2011.A discussion of a collection of essays by French scholars on Adam Smith, mainly but not exclusively, on his political theory.
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151Review of Carsten Herrmann-Pillath, Foundations of Economic Evolution (review)Journal of the History of Economic Thought 38 (1). 2015.A review of Carsten Herrmann-Pillath, Foundations of Economic Evolution. A Treatise on the Natural Philosophy of Economics. I argue that the author's ultra-naturalist stance in epistemology lacks consistent justification
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336Metafore, modelli, linguaggio scientifico: il dibattito postempiristaIn Virgilio Melchiorre (ed.), Simbolo e conoscenza, Vita E Pensiero. pp. 31-102. 1988.I discuss Mary Hess’s interaction-view of scientific metaphor, outline an alternative view and show how it may prove fruitful when applied to chapters of the history of science. I start with a reconstruction of the discussion on the nature of scientific models and on their relationship to metaphors that has taken place in the Anglo-Saxon philosophy of Science starting from the Fifties; the discovery started with Stephen Pepper and Kenneth Burke, reaching Thomas Kuhn, Marx Wartofsky, and George…Read more
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1688La teoria dei sentimenti morali (review)Philosophy and Public Issues - Filosofia E Questioni Pubbliche 3 (1): 199-206. 1996.A discussion of the Italian edition of Adam Smith's moral work edited by Eugenio Lecaldano.
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264Review of Judith P. Butler 'Subjects of Desire. Hegelian Reflections in Twentieth-century France' (review)Rivista di Filosofia Neo-Scolastica 82 (1): 174-175. 1990.A review of Butler's first book. An English version has been posted.
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164Merchants, Master-Manufacturers and Greedy People (review)History of Economic Ideas 15 (2): 143-154. 2007.A discussion of McCloskey's argument for bourgeois virtue ethics in 'Bourgeois Virtues'. I criticise the opposition of Adam Smith's and Kant's ethics, arguing that Kant and Smith share much more than the author believes. I criticise the idea that what is most respectable in modern liberal-democratic societies is a gift of Capitalism, arguing that it is a gift of movements, associations, networks, and religious communities that strenuously resisted for a couple of centuries to 'Capitalism'.
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715Analisi - sintesiIn Virgilio Melchiorre, Guido Boffi, Eugenio Garin, Adriano Bausola, Enrico Berti, Francesca Castellani, Sergio Cremaschi, Carla Danani, Roberto Diodato, Sergio Galvan, Alessandro Ghisalberti, Giuseppe Grampa, Michele Lenoci, Roberto Maiocchi, Michele Marsonet, Emanuela Mora, Carlo Penco, Roberto Radice, Giovanni Reale, Andrea Salanti, Piero Stefani, Valerio Verra & Paolo Volonté (eds.), Enciclopedia della Filosofia e delle Scienze Umane. Virgilio Melchiorre (ed.), De Agostini. pp. 41-42. 1996.A short reconstruction of the analytic-synthetic method, a key idea in Medieval and Early Modern Logic.
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215Sistema economicoIn Virgilio Melchiorre (ed.), Enciclopedia Filosofica, Bompiani. pp. 10698-10701. 2006.A short reconstruction of the discussion of the place of economies in societies starting with Adam Smith's idea of modes of subsistence and going thorugh Marx, the German historical school, Durkheim, Talcott Parsons and Karl Polanyi.
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333Smith, AdamIn Virgilio Melchiorre (ed.), Enciclopedia Filosofica, Bompiani. pp. 10726-10730. 2006.A presentation of Adam Smith's epistemology, ethics, political theory and economics
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198Socialisti ricardianiIn Virgilio Melchiorre (ed.), Enciclopedia Filosofica, Bompiani. pp. 10741-10742. 2006.A short reconstruction of the ethical, political and economic doctrines of Thomas Hodgskin, William Thompson and John Gray.
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140Steuart, JamesIn Virgilio Melchiorre (ed.), Enciclopedia Filosofica, Bompiani. pp. 11087-11088. 2006.A short presentation of James Steuart's neglected philosophical publications as well as of his well-known economic contribution
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152Sviluppo economicoIn Virgilio Melchiorre (ed.), Enciclopedia Filosofica, Bompiani. pp. 11253-11257. 2006.A discussion of the origins of the very notion of development, its role in eocnomic thoery, and its discussion in applied ethics
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512UtilitarismoIn Virgilio Melchiorre (ed.), Enciclopedia filosofica, Bompiani. pp. 11951-11958. 2006.A reconstruction of the origins, development and transformations in reaction to criticism of an ethical doctrine, followed by a discussion on its influence on law, political theory, economics and the social sciences
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149Whately, RichardIn Virgilio Melchiorre (ed.), Enciclopedia Filosofica, Bompiani. pp. 12353-12354. 2006.A short presentation of Richard Whately's ideas on logic, method, and the status of political economy
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596Analitik Etiğin Babası Kimdi? George Edward Moore’un DNA Testi (translation by Hatice Altıntaş)Felsefi Düsün 1 (1): 5-31. 2013.I reconstruct the background of ideas, concerns and intentions out of which Moore’s early essays, the preliminary version, and then the final version of Principia Ethica originated. I stress the role of religious concerns, as well as that of the Idealist legacy. I argue that PE is more a patchwork of rather diverging contributions than a unitary work, not to say the paradigm of a new school in Ethics. I add a comparison with Rashdall’s almost contemporary ethical work, suggesting that the latter…Read more
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135IndividualismoIn Enrico Berti & Giorgio Campanini (eds.), Dizionario delle idee politiche, Ave. pp. 389-392. 1993.A short reconstruction of the discussion on the genesis of Western Modern individualism, of the arguments advanced by its critics and by recent vindications of ethical and political individualism
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158Società civileIn Giuseppe Zaccaria (ed.), Lessico della politica. Giuseppe Zaccaria (ed.), Edizioni Lavoro. pp. 579-586. 1987.A reconstruction of the history of the wording civil society and of the curious twist in its usage and meaning, highlighting why the term had an important role in Continental political thinking and was ignored until comparatively recently in Anglo-Saxon political discourse
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172EquitàIn Giuseppe Zaccaria (ed.), Lessico della politica. Giuseppe Zaccaria (ed.), Edizioni Lavoro. pp. 230-238. 1987.A reconstruction of the history of a family of words, from ancient Greek and Hebrew to Modern languages, with an overview of one century discussion about justice, the separation of law and politics, and the ethical element in political theory.
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University of MálagaInternational Expert
Milano, Lombardia, Italy
Areas of Specialization
1 more
Normative Ethics |
Economics and Ethics |
17th/18th Century Ethics |
19th Century Ethics |
Adam Smith |
Value Theory |
Areas of Interest
Value Theory |