The Economy of Esteem
An Essay on Civil and Political Society
Two philosophers on esteem as a currency that shapes behaviour as reliably as money, and what follows if you take it seriously.
Brennan and Pettit argue that the desire for the good opinion of others is an economic force in its own right, capable of doing work that neither law nor money can do. They set out how an economy of esteem operates, why it cannot simply be engineered, and what follows for the design of institutions. Philosophy and economics taken equally seriously.
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Kwame Anthony Appiah
In New York City a lot of rich people give away a lot of money and, if you ask why, the natural explanation is that they get the reward of being esteemed. People think better of them, and it’s a striking fact that in New York where the richest people are a thousand times richer than the poorest people there is not a lot of resentment. That is because there is a tradition of the rich supporting the public good.
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