The vanity of the economist: A comment on Peart and Levy's the "Vanity of the Philosopher"

Abstract

In the Vanity of the Philosopher, Sandra Peart and David Levy reconsider "postclassical" economics from the vantage point of Adam Smith's "analytical" egalitarianism. Analytical egalitarianism is assumed, not proved; and Peart and Levy's criticisms of many 19th- and early 20th-century economists, as well as eugenics in general, depend on equivocating between analytical and substantive egalitarianism. They fail to provide a non-question-begging critique of eugenics. © 2008 American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Inc.