Abstract

Describes how the economic thought that emerged from the 18th century was a synthesis of the two opposing philosophical outlooks, rationality and anti-rationality, in the intellectual debate carried on by Locke, Leibniz, Mandeville, Hume, and others. Shows that the heritage of the period persists today in criticisms of neoclassical economics' assumptions about optimization, rationality, and equilibrium. Distributed in the US by Ashgate. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR.