Thymology, spiritedness, and the social organization of human activity

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Chapter 8 in Rethinking Economics as Social Theory, 2022, pp 125-141 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This chapter explores the effect that different forms of social and economic organization have on the kinds of lives that people are able to lead. For many years now, TIAA-CREF has sponsored an annual prize for the best treatment of the theme of "lifelong financial security." Security is surely something that is universally valued, or close to it anyway. Or do they? There are many ways in which a lifetime of security can be construed that is unlikely to be universally valued. A lifetime of imprisonment in a low-security prison could be one example. Just as surely as people value security, they surely also value adventure, challenge, and the escape from boredom. Adventure, moreover, can conflict with security. It has long been noted that the first order conditions for a welfare maximum are identical under liberalism and socialism. This identity is highly misleading, as this chapter explains.

Keywords: Economics and Finance; Politics and Public Policy Sociology and Social Policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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