ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author provided, using agent-based modeling, a model of a simplified economy of impersonal exchange, the so-called the virtuous economy. The model, built on reasonable psychological and behavioral assumptions, simulates an ideal (or a utopian) society. The author does so by operationalizing two key but distinct ideas: MacIntyre's account of “virtues in practices” and Zagzebski's “moral exemplarism.” It aims to simulate what an economy populated with virtuous agents would look like. As individuals become more virtuous, the model shows the conception of “welfare,” changes for the individuals so does their demand for material goods: they become less materialistic. So, the stable demand for external goods (as opposed to a hedonic treadmill-style consumption) creates a zero-growth economy while maximizing welfare, as formulated, a composite product of eudaimonia and some material goods. So, as individuals become more virtuous, one would expect “positional” goods and services and status-signaling consumption to decrease as these items do not contribute to absolute welfare/happiness.
