Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-94fs2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-06T04:11:48.118Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Smith, Friedman, and Self-Interest in Ethical Society

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 January 2015

Harvey S. James Jr.  and
Farhad Rassekh
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract:

We examine the writings of Adam Smith and Milton Friedman regarding their interpretation and use of the concept of self-interest. We argue that neither Smith nor Friedman considers self-interest to be synonymous with selfishness and thus devoid of ethical considerations. Rather, for both writers self-interest embodies an other-regarding aspect that requires individuals to moderate their actions when others are adversely affected. The overriding virtue for Smith in governing individual actions is justice; for Friedman it is non-coercion.

Type
Articles
Information
Business Ethics Quarterly , Volume 10 , Issue 3 , July 2000 , pp. 659 - 674
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Business Ethics 2000

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adams, D. M. and Maine, E.W. 1998. Business ethics for the 21st century. Mountain View, Calif.: Mayfield Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Baumol, W. J. 1978. Smith versus Marx on business morality and the social interest. In Adam Smith and the Wealth of Nations, 1776–1976 Bicentennial essay, ed. Glahe, E., pp. 111–122. Boulder Col.: Colorado Associated University Press.Google Scholar
Bishop, J. D. 1995. Adam Smith’s invisible hand argument. Journal of Business Ethics 14: 165–180.Google Scholar
Boatright, J. R. 1997. Ethics and the conduct of business, 2d ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Bowie, N. E., and Duska, R. F. 1990. Business ethics, 2d ed. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Brown, V. 1994. Adam Smith’s discourse. London and New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Buchholz, R. A. 1998. Principles of environmental management: The greening of business. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Buchholz, R. A., and Rosenthal, S. B. 1998. Business ethics: The pragmatic path beyond principles to process. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Camenisch, P. 1981 [1998]. Business ethics: On getting to the heart of the matter. Business and Professional Ethics Journal 1: 59–69. Reprinted in Shaw and Berry, Moral issues in business, 7th ed., pp. 240–246. Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Campbell, T. D. 1971. Adam Smith’s science of morals. London: George Allen and Unwin Ltd.Google Scholar
Carson, T. 1993. Friedman’s theory of corporate social responsibility. Business and Professional Ethics Journal 12: 3–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cavanagh, G. F. 1998. American business values with international perspectives. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Englehardt, E. E., and Schmeltekopf, D. D. 1992. Ethics and life: An interdisciplinary approach to moral problems. Dubuque, Ia.: Wm. C. Brown Publishers.Google Scholar
Evensky, J. 1992. Ethics and the classical liberal tradition in economics. History of Political Economy 24: 61–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evensky, J. 1993. Retrospectives: Ethics and the invisible hand. Journal of Economic Perspectives 7: 197–205.Google Scholar
Friedman, M. 1962. Capitalism and Freedom. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Friedman, M. 1970. The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits. New York Times Magazine, September 13, pp. 32–33, 122–126.Google Scholar
Friedman, M. 1972. Milton Friedman responds: A Business and Society Review interview. Business and Society Review 1: 5–16.Google Scholar
Friedman, M., and Friedman, R. 1980. Free to choose: A personal statement. New York: Avon Books.Google Scholar
Goldsmith, A. A. 1996. Business, government, society. Chicago: Irwin.Google Scholar
Hay, R. D., and Gray, E. R. 1980 [1992]. Introduction to social responsibility. Business and society: Cases and text, 2d ed. Cincinnati: South-Western Publishing. Reprinted in Ethics and life: An interdisciplinary approach to moral problems, ed. Englehardt, and Schmeltekopf, , pp. 336–346. Dubuque, Ia.: Wm. C. Brown Publishers.Google Scholar
Irwin, D. A. 1991. Jacob Viner, essays on the intellectual history of economics. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
L’Etang, J. 1995. Ethical corporate social responsibility: A framework for managers. Journal of Business Ethics 14: 125–132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Macfie, A. L. 1959. Adam Smith’s Moral Sentiments as foundation for his Wealth of Nations. Oxford Economic Papers New Series 11: 209–228.Google Scholar
Marcus, A. A. 1996. Business and society: Strategy, ethics, and the global economy. Chicago: Irwin.Google Scholar
Muller, J. Z. 1993. Adam Smith in his time and ours. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Mulligan, T. 1986. A critique of Milton Friedman’s essay “The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits.” Journal of Business Ethics 5: 265–269.Google Scholar
Novak, M. 1996. Business as a calling. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Primeaux, P. 1998. Maximizing ethics and profits. In Perspectives in business ethics, ed. Hartman, L. P., pp. 258–263. Chicago: Irwin-McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Raphael, D. D. and Macfie, A. L. 1984. Introduction. In Smith, , An inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations, pp. 1–52. Indianapolis: Liberty Classics.Google Scholar
Sen, A. 1987. On ethics and economics. New York: Basil Blackwell.Google Scholar
Shaw, W. H. and Barry, V. 1998. Moral issues in business, 7th ed. Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Smith, A. 1759 [1984]. The theory of moral sentiments. Indianapolis: Liberty Classics.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, A. 1776 [1981]. An inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations. Indianapolis: Liberty Classics.Google Scholar
Stewart, D. 1996. Business ethics. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Trevino, L. K. and Nelson, K. A. 1995. Managing business ethics: Straight talk about how to do it right. New York: John Wiley and Sons.Google Scholar
Velasquez, M. G. 1998. Business ethics: Concepts and cases, 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Viner, J. 1959 [1991]. The “economic man,” or the place of self-interest in a “good society.” Reprinted in Jacob Viner, essays on the intellectual history of economics, ed. Irwin, , pp. 69–77. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Viner, J. 1968 [1991]. Adam, Smith. Reprinted in Jacob Viner, essays on the intellectual history of economics, ed. Irwin, , pp. 248–261. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Werhane, P. H. 1991. Adam Smith and his legacy for modern capitalism. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Young, J. T. 1997. Economics as a moral science. Cheltenham, U.K.: Edward Elgar.Google Scholar