The Marriage Between Human Morality and Economics

Abstract

Many modern economists consider Economics as a science, free of morality. I argue that this view of Economics is incorrect and is but the result of incomplete understanding of the evolution of Economics and of Morality. As part of my arguments, I first explore the evolution of Morality to show that Morality is innate in human nature and that it dictates every human action. In the second section of the paper, I sketch the evolution of Economics by exploring the manner in which human thought, religion and economic understanding of the world evolved. I end the section at the point where the Church begins to decline and Europe steps into Modernity, giving birth to Economics as a science. In the third section, I discuss the role of Morality in influencing Economic thought, and contest the misconception that Economics got divorced from Morality after the Church’s influence declined. I argue that Human Morality, which evolved to influence the way man lived, conducted himself and interacted with the others around, cannot be separated from Economics, and its influence on the economic interaction of men is too important to be overlooked.