عنوان

Public Happiness as the Wealth of Nations:

Number

LA7db6235h

Title Proper

Public Happiness as the Wealth of Nations:

General Material Designation

[Article]

First Statement of Responsibility

Sabetti, Filippo

Title Proper by Another Author

The Rise of Political Economy in Naples in a Comparative Perspective

Text of Note

The paper surveys the rise of political economy in eighteenth-century Naples in a comparative perspective. It presents several arguments: first, that far from being a passive receptor, Naples was  a producer of ideas about political economy that complemented other currents of thought in Europe; that the contribution of Antonio Genovesi was at the core of the intellectual  development in Naples; that the progress of science and arts in Naples did not constitute a sharp break with the past; and, finally,  that thinkers like Genovesi created a credible alternative  to both the Hobbesian view of human nature and the Scottish model of political economy associated with Adam Smith. Genovesi's attention to how cooperation can be created to overcome collective-action dilemmas adds to our knowledge of the archeology of modern rational choice theory, while his emphasis on public happiness has been given renewed significance in light of recent recognition that increases in wealth do not necessarily produce individual happiness or life satisfaction.

Date of Publication

2012

Title

UC Berkeley

Electronic name

[Article]

275578

a

Y