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Winter 2017

ISSN 0890-913X

Volume 32, Number 4

Categories: Winter 2017 | Capitalism

Ethics in a Commercial Age: McCloskey, Constant and Tocqueville on the Bourgeois Virtues

Aimee E. Barbeau, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

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TheJournalofPrivateEnterprise32(4),2017,59–70EthicsinaCommercialAge:McCloskey,Constant,andTocquevilleontheBourgeoisVirtuesAimeeE.BarbeauUniversityofIllinois,Urbana-Champaign______________________________________________________AbstractInTheBourgeoisVirtues,DeirdreMcCloskeycontributestoavenerabletraditionoftheorizingthebenefitsofcapitalismthatstretchesbacktoatleastthewritingsofAdamSmith.Byexploringthemoralbenefitsofcapitalism,McCloskeytakesheadontheincisivecritiquethatderidesitaserodingofvirtue.Inthispaper,IsetMcCloskey’sclaimsalongsidethoseoftwoclassicaldefendersofmarkets,AlexisdeTocquevilleandBenjaminConstant.PlacingMcCloskeyinthelongerdiscourseonthemoralunderpinningsofmarketsocietyhighlightsbothhercontributionstothattraditionandthewaysinwhichheraccountmightbenefitfromTocqueville’sandConstant’sawarenessofthecomplexmorallegacyofmoderncapitalism.______________________________________________________JELCodes:B12,B15,B25,B31,P17Keywords:DeirdreMcCloskey,bourgeoiscapitalism,virtueethics,modernpoliticaleconomy,AlexisdeTocqueville,BenjaminConstantI.IntroductionNarrativesaboutcapitalisminevitablyshapeinterpretationsofeconomicdata.1ThispointabouttheprimacyofthestorieswetellovertheempiricalevidencewegatheranimatesDeirdreMcCloskey’sBourgeoisEratrilogy.McCloskeyseekstodisplacethecapitalism-asexploitationview,whichshefindspervasive,withanappreciationofthebenefitsofmoderncommerciallife.Sheunderstandsherworkasanoutright“apology”formarkets.ThoughMcCloskeywritesasabeleagueredvoiceinthewilderness,surroundedbythosewhodecrymoderncommercialsociety,sheoccasionallydipsintoavenerableandrichtraditionof1See,forexample,RandazzoandHaidt(2015),whoidentifytwobroadnarratives,capitalismasexploitationandcapitalismasliberation,andshowhowthesenarrativesinfluenceeconomists’choiceofmethodologiesandempiricalprescriptions.

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Title	Ethics in a Commercial Age: McCloskey, Constant and Tocqueville on the Bourgeois Virtues
Authors/Creators:	Aimee E. Barbeau, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Year:	2017
Volume:	32
Number:	4
Pages:	59 - 70
Publisher:	The Association of Private Enterprise Education
ISSN:	0890-913X
Document Type:	Articles
Keywords:	Deirdre McCloskey, bourgeois capitalism, virtue ethics, modern political economy, Alexis de Tocqueville, Benjamin Constant

Citation:
Barbeau, Aimee E. / 2017. "Ethics in a Commercial Age: McCloskey, Constant and Tocqueville on the Bourgeois Virtues." The Journal of Private Enterprise, 32(4): 59-70.