The Teleological View of Wealth: A Historical Perspective
Author(s)
Smith, Gerald Alonzo
Abstract
Economists have tended to formulate their perceptions of social welfare based upon the 19th century philosophies of individualism and utilitarianism. Happiness is equated with the consumption of goods: the more goods available and consumed in society, the higher the level of social well being. Individuals are considered the best judge of their own happiness, so the individual’s choice of economic goods as expressed in the market place must be taken as given, and is thus beyond analysis. The key to the greatest happiness for the greatest number is to simply allow people to follow the dictates of their acquisitive, self-interested nature. There have been economists in the modern era who have questioned this premise. In what follows, the thoughts of four such economists are examined. Each in his own way rejects the conventional wisdom that economic growth is an end in and of itself. They have all viewed the growth of production and consumption as a means rather than an end. They define that end as life in all of its dimensions, especially the higher, immaterial dimensions.
