Question: Does "capitalism" have Marxist roots? Should we use "free market economy" instead?
Answer: Interesting question, but I would say, ‘poisoned genealogy’ is not a good argument. Where the word came from is not as important as whether it is a good concept, a useful concept. Now, and there’s a good principle here: Don’t let your enemies take your stuff.
In this case, Capitalism is a very good word. Economically, capital, it means resources that are deployed for productive purposes; land, machinery and the most important resource, the individual human being taking charge of their life and becoming productive. I think that is a wonderful use, that concept of human capital. To say that individuals are responsible for themselves and that’s precisely what capitalism, the head, puts front and center.
I’d also say that free market capitalism is of course very good, but markets are slightly secondary. Markets are a social institution. People coming together to trade with each other, but it presupposes that you’ve got individuals who are taking charge of their own productivity. The individual capitalist is fundamental. Markets are secondary. So, I like capitalism a little more as a broader label.
Stephen R. C. Hicks is a Senior Scholar for The Atlas Society and Professor of Philosophy at Rockford University. He is also the Director of the Center for Ethics and Entrepreneurship at Rockford University.
Er ist Autor von Die Kunst des Argumentierens: Lektüre für logische Analyse (W. W. Norton & Co., 1998), Erklärung der Postmoderne: Skeptizismus und Sozialismus von Rousseau bis Foucault (Scholargy, 2004), Nietzsche und die Nazis (Ockhams Rasiermesser, 2010), Unternehmerisches Leben (CEEF, 2016), Liberalismus Pro und Contra (Connor Court, 2020), Kunst: Modern, Postmodern, and Beyond (mit Michael Newberry, 2021) und Eight Philosophies of Education (2022). Er hat in Business Ethics Quarterly, Review of Metaphysics und Das Wall Street Journal. Seine Schriften wurden in 20 Sprachen übersetzt.
Er war Gastprofessor für Wirtschaftsethik an der Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., Gastprofessor am Social Philosophy & Policy Center in Bowling Green, Ohio, Gastprofessor an der Universität von Kasimir dem Großen, Polen, Gastprofessor am Harris Manchester College der Universität Oxford, England, und Gastprofessor an der Jagiellonen-Universität, Polen.
Seinen B.A.- und M.A.-Abschluss erwarb er an der Universität von Guelph, Kanada. Seinen Doktortitel in Philosophie erwarb er an der Indiana University, Bloomington, USA.
Im Jahr 2010 wurde er mit dem Excellence in Teaching Award seiner Universität ausgezeichnet.
Seine Open College-Podcast-Reihe wird von Possibly Correct Productions, Toronto, veröffentlicht. Seine Videovorträge und -interviews sind auf dem CEE Video Channel zu sehen, und seine Website lautet StephenHicks.org.
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