Name: The Passions and the Interests
ISBN: 9780691015989

Albert O. Hirschman

By drawing on the writings of a number of thinkers, and by reconstructing the intellectual climate of the 17th and 18th centuries, the author offers a new interpretation for the rise of capitalism, one that portrays this lengthy ideological change as an endogenous processand that emphasizes the continuities between old and new, in contrast to the assumption of a sharp break.

Political Arguments for Capitalism Before Its Triumph

The Passions and the Interests

hirschman's monograph is a history of ideas, specifically that of capitalism, before its advent, before the 1900s. the intellectual arguments are important as he hopes to raise the level of debates for and against capitalism.

contra weber, he sees the uptake of capitalism as that of the managerial elite, as opposed to that of the protestant ethic, which explores the individual psychological dimension

at its core, the argument for capitalism is  political theory, and control of the polity. the kernel of the debate lies in the argument between reason, passion, and interests (the secret third thing). for st augustine, hobbes, aquinas, the value of gloryseeking is a sin, contra montesqieu. heroic virtues were seen to be self-preservative, as espoused by the above, le rochefoucauld, and pascal. such "passions" should then be reined in by the state; how? through harnessing interests. and none other than with capitalism.

from here, the assumption of flat interests, humans can then be predicted and governed easily. "uncertainty became the arch-enemy that needed to be exorcised"

the idea of balance of interests first took hold -- followed by the international relations concept of a balance of power.

montesqieu, for all his support of freedom, was nakedly aware of the disadvantages of capitalism, from competition, to accumulation, to greed. passions can rule together with interest.

he goes into a tract about international trade, the origins of mercantilism, and how the physiocrats and adam smith agreed.

concluding, speaks of how tocqueville said that for the sake of favourable business climate, people that ask for law and order  "are slave at the bottom of their heart". it is also noted that private property as a means against government tyranny, proudhon who spoke of "property as theft" was the intellectual proponent of it. lastly, the very thing that is denounced as its worst feature, its flattening and depersonalising logic on people, was supposed to accomplish exactly that.

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hirschman's monograph is a history of ideas, specifically that of capitalism, before its advent, before the 1900s. the intellectual arguments are important as he hopes to raise the level of debates for and against capitalism.

contra weber, he sees the uptake of capitalism as that of the managerial elite, as opposed to that of the protestant ethic, which explores the individual psychological dimension

at its core, the argument for capitalism is  political theory, and control of the polity. the kernel of the debate lies in the argument between reason, passion, and interests (the secret third thing). for st augustine, hobbes, aquinas, the value of gloryseeking is a sin, contra montesqieu. heroic virtues were seen to be self-preservative, as espoused by the above, le rochefoucauld, and pascal. such "passions" should then be reined in by the state; how? through harnessing interests. and none other than with capitalism.

from here, the assumption of flat interests, humans can then be predicted and governed easily. "uncertainty became the arch-enemy that needed to be exorcised"

the idea of balance of interests first took hold -- followed by the international relations concept of a balance of power.

montesqieu, for all his support of freedom, was nakedly aware of the disadvantages of capitalism, from competition, to accumulation, to greed. passions can rule together with interest.

he goes into a tract about international trade, the origins of mercantilism, and how the physiocrats and adam smith agreed.

concluding, speaks of how tocqueville said that for the sake of favourable business climate, people that ask for law and order  "are slave at the bottom of their heart". it is also noted that private property as a means against government tyranny, proudhon who spoke of "property as theft" was the intellectual proponent of it. lastly, the very thing that is denounced as its worst feature, its flattening and depersonalising logic on people, was supposed to accomplish exactly that.



The Passions and the Interests Political Arguments for Capitalism Before Its Triumph