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The Theory of Self-Interest in Modern Economic Discourse: a Critical Study in the Light of African Humanism and Process Philosophical Anthropology

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The Theory of Self-Interest in Modern Economic Discourse: a Critical Study in the Light of African Humanism and Process Philosophical Anthropology View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Unisa Institutional Repository THE THEORY OF SELF-INTEREST IN MODERN ECONOMIC DISCOURSE: A CRITICAL STUDY IN THE LIGHT OF AFRICAN HUMANISM AND PROCESS PHILOSOPHICAL ANTHROPOLOGY By MUNYARADZI FELIX MUROVE submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF THEOLOGY in the subject of THEOLOGICAL ETHICS at the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA PROMOTER: PROF M B G MOTLHABI SEMPTEMBER 2005 ii Student Number: 852-048-8 DECLARATION I declare that THE THEORY OF SELF-INTEREST IN MODERN ECONOMIC DISCOURSE: A CRITICAL STUDY IN LIGHT OF AFRICAN HUMANISM AND THE PROCESS PHILOSOPHICAL ANTHROPOLOGY is my own work and that all the sources that I have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged by means of complete references. _______________________ ___________________ SIGNATURE) DATE (MF MUROVE) iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Professor Mokgethi Motlhabi for his patient, highly critical and equally encouraging supervisory role, my friend Dr. Patrick Ngulube for his technical support, my beloved friend Queen and my children Rudo and Tadiwa for all their encouragement and love. My heartfelt gratitude goes to my parents and sisters for their encouragement. I am very thankful for the financial assistance that was given to me by the Unilever Ethics Centre and the unfailing support and encouragement that was also given to me by my colleague Professor Martin Prozesky. The initial financial assistance of the National Research Foundation is hereby acknowledged. iv SUMMARY Modern economic theory of self-interest alleges that in their economic relations people always behave in a way that maximises their utility. The idea whether human beings were solely self-interested has a long history as it can be seen from the writings of Greek philosophers and the Church fathers. Among Greek philosophers there were those who argued that human beings were naturally self-interested (Aristotle) and those who maintained that human beings were communal by nature (Plato, Stoics and the Pythagoreans). The later position was adopted by the Church fathers as they condemned self-interest as the sin of avarice and greed. The justification of self-interest in human and political activities was part and parcel of the economic and political early modernists, as it can be seen in the works of Mandeville, Hobbes, Hume and Adam Smith. In the writings of these thinkers, the flourishing of wealth depended on individual freedom to pursue their self-interests. In this regard, self- interest became the sole source of motivation in the behaviour of homo economicus. A persistent motif in late modern economic discourse on self-interest is based on the idea that people think and act on the basis of that which is to their self-interest. It is mainly for this reason that late modern economic thinkers maintain that society would prosper when people are left alone to pursue their self-interests. Late modern economic theory of utility maximisation alleges that individuals act only after calculating costs and benefits. The argument of this thesis, based on the commonalities between African humanism and process philosophical anthropology, is that self-interest is antithetical to communal life as advocated in the ethic of Ubuntu. One who acts solely on the basis of maximising his or her utility would inevitably deprive others of a humane existence. A holistic metaphysical outlook based on the relatedness and interrelatedness of everything that exists as we find it in African humanism and process philosophical anthropology implies that the individual exists in internal relations with everything else. We should go beyond self- interest by giving primacy to a holistic ethic. v Key Terms Capitalism; Community; Homo Economicus; Ethics; African Humanism; Modernity; Process thought; Utility maximisation; Self-interest; Ubuntu. vi ABBREVIATIONS AI Adventures of Ideas CN Concept of Nature SMW Science and the Modern World RM Religion in the Making PR Process and Reality MT Modes of Thought ESP Essays in Science and Philosophy vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...............................................................................................iii ABBREVIATIONS.......................................................................................................... vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................... vii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION............................................................................. 1 1.1 Statement of the Problem........................................................................................... 1 1.1.1 Summary................................................................................................................ 1 1.1.2 Origins of the Problem........................................................................................... 2 1.2 The Limitations of the Study ..................................................................................... 4 1.3 Significance of the Study ............................................................................................ 5 1.4 Method of Investigation.............................................................................................. 5 1.5 Plan of the Study ......................................................................................................... 6 PART I: THEORY OF SELF-INTEREST AND MODERN ECONOMIC DISCOURSES................................................................................................................... 8 CHAPTER TWO: EARLY GREEK AND JUDEO-CHRISTIAN DISCOURSES ON SELF-INTEREST........................................................................................................... 11 2.1 Introduction............................................................................................................... 11 2.2 Self-Interest Defined ................................................................................................. 12 2.3 Self-Interest and Greek Philosophical Discourses ................................................. 14 2.3.1 Plato and the Pythagoreans .................................................................................. 14 2.3.2 Aristotle................................................................................................................ 17 2.4 Self-Interest and the Judeo-Christian Tradition ................................................... 20 2.4.1 The Essenes of Qumran ....................................................................................... 21 2.4.2 St Ambrose of Milan............................................................................................ 22 2.4.3 Gregory of Nazianzen.......................................................................................... 23 2.4.4 St. Basil the Great ................................................................................................ 24 2.4.5 St. Augustine........................................................................................................ 25 2.4.6 Thomas Aquinas .................................................................................................. 29 2.5 Self-Interest and the Reformation Era ................................................................... 31 2.6 Conclusion and Observations .................................................................................. 38 viii CHAPTER THREE: EARLY MODERNITY AND THE ECONOMIC THEORY OF SELF-INTEREST .................................................................................................... 41 3.1 Introduction............................................................................................................... 41 3.2 Definition of Modernity............................................................................................ 42 3.3 Self-Interest and Political Theories of Early Modernity....................................... 44 3. 3.1 Machiavelli and Political Liberalism.................................................................. 44 3. 3.2 Self-Interest in Hobbes’ Theory of Social Contract ........................................... 46 3.3.3 David Hume and Self-Interest in Politics ............................................................ 49 3.4 Self Interest and Early Modern Economic Liberalism ......................................... 50 3.4.1 Mandeville’s Parody of Egoism that benefits the Common Good ...................... 51 3.4.2 Self-Interest in Adam Smith’s Liberal Economic Theory ................................... 56 3.4.3 Self-Interest and the Invisible Hand .................................................................... 59 3.4.3.1 The Religious Significance of the Invisible Hand ........................................ 60 3.4.3.2 Smith’s concept of the Invisible Hand and the Sociological Theory of Spontaneous Orders .................................................................................................. 63 3.4.4 Polanyi’s Critique of Smith’s Economic Liberalism........................................... 71 3.5 Conclusion and Observations .................................................................................. 73 CHAPTER FOUR: OTHER CONTRIBUTIONS TO AND DEBATES ON THE THEORY OF SELF-INTEREST IN EARLY MODERN ECONOMIC DISCOURSE ................................................................................................................... 76 4.1 Introduction..............................................................................................................
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