Why Does Jean-Baptiste Say Think Economics is Worth Studying?

Gilles Jacoud

History of Economics Review, 2012, vol. 55, issue 1, 29-46

Abstract: Jean-Baptiste Say sought to make the subject of political economy known to a wide public and taught it right up to the last few weeks of his life. The object of this article is to understand why, according to Say, political economy is worth studying. It is worthwhile, because as he explains from 1800 onwards, it is capable of making men more virtuous and societies more civilised. In order to do this, it must establish irrefutable truths. According to him this is possible thanks to use of the experimental method which in political economy enables the establishment of laws as sound as those that exist in the field of physics. Once they are known, these laws help individuals to act according to their true interests, enabling them to improve their material conditions. The material affluence favoured by the knowledge of political economy contributes to men’s fulfilment and makes nations more civilised.

Date: 2012
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/18386318.2012.11682191 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:rherxx:v:55:y:2012:i:1:p:29-46

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/rher20

DOI: 10.1080/18386318.2012.11682191

Access Statistics for this article

History of Economics Review is currently edited by John Harry Bloch and John Hawkins

More articles in History of Economics Review from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().