ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the objectives of the book: (i) to provide a critical account of how economists have contributed to ongoing debates about the ethical challenges that Western societies have faced since the eighteenth century in their pursuit of economic enrichment: is this project consistent with the preservation or enhancement of human flourishing in a broader sense? and (ii) in so doing, to also provide non-economists interested in this question with the conceptual apparatus required for fully engaging with the history of economic thought. Also, this chapter outlines the criteria used by the author to articulate his “critical” perspective on the epistemological foundations and moral implications of the theories discussed in this book. Although philosophical pragmatism is not the only normative prism through which these theories are examined (the author also finds merits in the views of Austrian economists and F.A. Hayek in particular), it is the most significant one. Consequently, this chapter offers a brief overview of the pragmatic tradition.
