20 - Do Free Markets Make Free Humans? Interview with Jeffrey Bercuson

Good in Theory: A Political Philosophy Podcast

English - January 18, 2021 16:00 - 1 hour - 52.5 MB
Philosophy Society & Culture Education philosophy political theory history politics plato political philosophy aristotle history of ideas political thought theory Homepage Download Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed

Previous Episode: 19 - From Piss Play to Girl Power: Naomi Hamer on the History of Fairy Tales

Next Episode: 21 - GiT Valentine's Day Special: Rousseau and Romance Past

Jeffrey Bercuson is author of A History of Political Thought: Property, Labor, and Commerce from Plato to Piketty.

This book does a whirlwind tour through the history of political thought explaining how different thinkers have approached the commercial or money-making part of human life. We talk about how attitudes have shifted from ancient scepticism about commerce in Plato and Aristotle to its celebration in thinkers like Hegel and Hayek.

Bercuson also explains how, even if we accept the arguments of some of capitalism’s biggest boosters, we still wind up on the left side of the existing political options.

Amazon link

Support the Show.