Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book deals with one of the ways of integrating positive ethics into economics. It also deals with the origins of the concept of altruism and examines the evolution, through economic theory and practice, of the very meaning of this term. The book also examines how economic theory came to take reason into consideration, while at the same time remaining within a methodological framework compatible with rationality. It describes a specific interpretation of commitment as seen in the concept of the impartial spectator. The book offers a positive analysis of the notion of responsibility in economics and argues in favour of such positive analysis. It reflects on the choice of responsible action and the given priorities and explores how alterations could be made to responsibility.