In Defense of Dwelling in Great Minds: A Few Quotations from Michael Polanyi’s The Study of Man

Daniel Klein

No 141, Ratio Working Papers from The Ratio Institute

Abstract: It seems like a small and perhaps shrinking minority of economists know reverence of individual figures. Most economists seem to be without heroes, and sometimes disparage reverence as cultish idolatry. Here I collect from Michael Polanyi’s The Study of Man (1959) a few passages that eloquently suggest that “we need reverence to perceive greatness, even as we need a telescope to observe spiral nebulae.” The selection is made in the defense of seeking out and communing with great minds.

Keywords: greatness; reverence; heroes; calling (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A20 B00 B30 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 5 pages
Date: 2009-09-24
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hpe
Note: Forthcoming in Society
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