Keynes: Philosophy, Economics and Politics: The Philosophical Foundations of Keynes’s Thought and their Influence on his Economics and Politics

426 Pages·1989·44.28 MB·English

by  R. M. O’Donnell (auth.)

KEYNES: PHILOSOPHY, ECONOMICS AND
POLITICS
Keynes: Philosophy,
Economics and Politics
The Philosophical Foundations of
Keynes's Thought and their
Influence on his Economics and
Politics
R. M. O'DONNELL
Senior Lecturer in Economics
Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
Palgrave Macmillan
ISBN 978-1-349-07029-9 ISBN 978-1-349-07027-5 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-07027-5
© R. M. O'Donnell 1989
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1989 978-0-333-49880-4
All rights reserved. For information, write:
Scholarly and Reference Division,
St. Martin's Press, Inc., 175 Fifth Avenue,
New York, N.Y. 10010
First published in the United States of America in 1989
ISBN 978-0-312-03578-5
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
O'Donnell, R. M., 1946-
Keynes: Philosophy, Economics, and Politics: The Philosophical
Foundations of Keyne's Thought and Their Influence on his Economics
and Politics/R. M. O'Donnell.
p. em.
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-0-312-03578-5
1. Keynes, John Maynard 1883-1946. 2. Keynesian economics.
I. Title.
HB103.K47036 1989
330.15'6-dc20 89-32732
CIP
To Judith
who listens and loves.
Contents
List of Figures ix
Preface x
Abbreviations xn
Introduction 1
Part I: KEYNES'S PHILOSOPHY 9
1 Some Philosophical Background 11
Appendix: Some Comments on the Treatise on Probability 25
2 Theoretical Reason and Logic 28
Appendix: Selected Quotations from Keynes's 1908
Dissertation 48
3 Types of Probability and their Measurement 50
Appendix: A 'Contradiction' Resolved 64
4 The Concept of the Weight of Argument 67
Appendix: Causality and Chance 79
5 Epistemology 81
6 Practical Reason and Ethics 106
Appendix: Moore's Ethical Philosophy 133
7 Philosophy After 1921 138
PART II: KEYNES'S ECONOMICS AND POLITICS 155
8 Philosophy and Economics: Some General Connections 157
9 Mathematics and Economics 183
Appendix: A Mathematical Biography 205
10 Epistemology and Economics 208
11 The General Theory I: The Dye of Expectations 234
12 The General Theory II: Behaviour and Rationality 247
vii
Contents
Vlll
13 Political Philosophy I 273
14 Political Philosophy II 295
15 A Middle Way 325
16 Looking Forward 331
Notes 339
Bibliography 384
Index 403
List of Figures
2.1 Range of the probability-relation 35
3.1 Types of probability 51
3.2 Probability orderings 55
3.3 Quality, quantity and part-whole relations 62
4.1 Interplay between weight and probability 72
4.2 Types of uncertainty 77
5.1 Types of knowledge 85
6.1 The principle of least moral risk 124
11.1 Employment and the state of expectation 240
ix
Preface
This book originated as a doctoral dissertation submitted to the University
of Cambridge in 1982. As the very first extended study of Keynes's
philosophy and its connections to his economics, the dissertation attracted
considerable attention and was widely read by scholars from several
countries. The original study has now been completely rewritten and
expanded, with Keynes's politics being a major addition. Although the
number of active researchers in the area has grown from the handful of
several years ago, the present work may still claim, it seems, a pioneering
role.
It was partly dissatisfaction with the knowledge assumptions of Neoclassi
cal economics, and partly curiosity about Keynes's different approach to
uncertainty that first led to my opening his Treatise on Probability in 1978.
Difficult though the going was, I was astonished at what it revealed about
Keynes and the commentaries upon him. Here was a philosopher, not an
economist, a philosopher reflecting on a variety of topics all related to his
thought in other areas. Uncharted regions of unknown fertility lay before
me. Only subsequently did I discover the earlier, brief and tentative sorties
made by others in the direction I wished to travel.
While my intellectual debts are few, largely as a result of the relatively
solitary nature of the expedition, they nevertheless run deep. My earliest is
to John Burnheim of Sydney University who initially stimulated my interest
in rationality and later encouraged my first attempts to delve the
foundations of Keynes's thought. Other early debts reside at Cambridge.
My greatest there is to Bob Rowthorn who supervised my dissertational
forays into unfamiliar territories with intelligence, tolerance and stimula
tion. I should also like to record my gratitude to Gay Meeks whose
thoughtful remarks were always helpful. My thanks as well to those
e~onomists and philosophers at Cambridge who commented upon various
elements of my dissertation, and to that small band of open-minded
research students in economics and philosophy who welcomed critical
enquiry; their names are mentioned in my dissertation. Geoff Harcourt's
appreciation of my efforts and his unfaltering encouragement have been
important in my subsequent path towards publication.
Outside Cambridge, I am most beholden to Robert Skidelsky. From our
first meeting in 1981 in King's where we were independently excited by
Keynes's early unpublished writings, I have never ceased eagerly to antici
pate another absorbing engagement with him. His questions energised and
motivated me to probe deeper and to venture further. Though I shall later
pass critical comment on certain themes in the first volume of his excellent
X
Preface xi
biography, my great esteem for his contribution to Keynes scholarship is
not thereby lessened.
For reading the entire book, I am indebted to John Burnheim, whose
suggestiot;1s have improved it considerably. I am also grateful to Bob Coats
and Winton Higgins who commented upon Part I and the politics chapters
respectively. Other remarks from Evan Jones, Terry O'Shaughnessy, Neil
Laing and Don Patinkin are gratefully acknowledged. Jo Gaha's generosity
and acuity in proofreading the entire manuscript was an act of true
friendship.
For permission to quote from the Keynes Papers, and to use Roger Fry's
charcoal sketch of Keynes on the jacket, I am greatly indebted to King's
College, Cambridge. I am especially grateful to Michael Halls, Modern
Archivist of King's College Library, who was ever generous in providing
access to the Keynes Papers and who brought the Fry sketch to my notice.
My thanks also to the Marshall Librarian at the University of Cambridge
for permission to cite a comment by Marshall, and to the late Mr Arthur
Finkel whose friendly assistance was much appreciated. To the Syndics of
Cambridge University Library and to Professor R.D. Keynes, I am grate
ful for permission to quote from the diaries of J .N. Keynes. For permission
to cite from a letter from Keynes to Duncan Grant, I am grateful to the
British Library Board, Mrs Henrietta Garnett and Professor R.D. Keynes.
Permission to quote from Bertrand Russell's papers was kindly granted by
McMaster University Library, Hamilton, Canada, and the Harry Ransom
Humanities Research Centre at the University of Texas at Austin. Ken
neth Blackwell, Russell Archivist at McMaster, provided valuable assist
ance. I am also indebted to Lady Harrod for allowing quotation from a
letter from Roy Harrod to Bertrand Russell. For help with word process
ing, typing and indexing, I should like to thank Monica Corrales, Shirley
Alexander, Richard Proudfoot, Karen Mumford, Jane Oldroyd, Judith
Cole, Jackie Clayton and Megan Brassell. Mr R. Dennerstein was a most
helpful editor. Funds for this research have never been plentiful; thanks
are due, however, to Macquarie University for contributions in 1987 and
1988.
No one regrets the delay in publication more than myself. But despite
the costs, it has undoubtedly resulted in a much better book. In providing
unstinting emotional support and encouragement since the beginning,
Judith Cole stands supreme. To her this book is unreservedly, and lov
ingly, dedicated.
R.M. O'Donnell
January 1988