Scan barcode
A review by annabanana96
Economics of Good and Evil: The Quest for Economic Meaning from Gilgamesh to Wall Street by Tomáš Sedláček
3.0
✅ More about history, religion, and philosophy than about hard economics, but that was the author's aim as we find out; for me personally not what I expected but still interesting
❌ When you're familiar with the basic philosophical ideas (Plato, Aristotle, Adam Smith, Mill, Keynes, Marx) this book offers little new thoughts; I personally found Mandeville interesting though
❌ Often only touches topics shallowly and then storms off to the next; conclusions are sometimes missing or how everything ties in to the topic of good, evil, and economics
❌ Abstract talk about good and evil but no scientific hard facts
❌ The first 5 chapters could have been summarized in 1 chapter in my opinion; they're very general history and philosophy and no real new ideas or conclusions are introduced
✅ From chapter 6 on (Mandeville) I enjoyed reading a bit more and there were also some interesting ideas, however, mostly not Sedlacek's own
✅ Many philosophers introduced from Ancient Greece to modern day; great as an impetus for continuous reading
❌ Sometimes quite repetitive and I can't see the conclusions in some of the passages; the connection to economics or the title seems lost
❌ Very opinionated, little scientific writing, more of a pleading
(I read the German version of this book)
❌ When you're familiar with the basic philosophical ideas (Plato, Aristotle, Adam Smith, Mill, Keynes, Marx) this book offers little new thoughts; I personally found Mandeville interesting though
❌ Often only touches topics shallowly and then storms off to the next; conclusions are sometimes missing or how everything ties in to the topic of good, evil, and economics
❌ Abstract talk about good and evil but no scientific hard facts
❌ The first 5 chapters could have been summarized in 1 chapter in my opinion; they're very general history and philosophy and no real new ideas or conclusions are introduced
✅ From chapter 6 on (Mandeville) I enjoyed reading a bit more and there were also some interesting ideas, however, mostly not Sedlacek's own
✅ Many philosophers introduced from Ancient Greece to modern day; great as an impetus for continuous reading
❌ Sometimes quite repetitive and I can't see the conclusions in some of the passages; the connection to economics or the title seems lost
❌ Very opinionated, little scientific writing, more of a pleading
(I read the German version of this book)