Saturday, May 9, 2015

Barter, Reason, Empiricism

Smith's "propensity to barter" is constituted by the concept of mutually beneficial exchange. Thus, it includes the rudiments of what is often characterized as 'enlightened self-interest'. Now, according to Kant, insofar as that concept entails that of an other as an end-in-itself, it is derived from Reason. Thus, an unaddressed methodological problem for Smith is the relation of Barter to Empiricism.

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