Springer Everyday Greed: Analysis and Appraisal: 58 (Ethical Economy, 58)

This collection examines how greed should be understood and appraised. Roundly condemned by virtually all religions, greed receives mixed appraisals in the domains of business and economics. The volume examines these mixed appraisals and how they fare in light of their implications for greed in our everyday world. Greed in children is uniformly criticized by parents, other adults, and even children’s peers.  However, in adulthood, greed is commended by some as essential to profit-seeking in business and for offering the greatest promise in promoting economic prosperity for everyone. Those who advocate a more permissive position on greed in the adult world typically concede that some constraints on greed are needed. However, the supporting literature offers little analysis of what greed is (as distinct from, for example, the effort to meet modest needs, or the pursuit of ordinary self-interested ends).  It offers little clarification of what sorts of constraints on greed are needed. Nor is careful attention given to difficulties children might have in making a transition without moral loss from regarding greed as inappropriate to its later qualified acceptance. Through a secular approach, this book attempts to make significant inroads in remedying these shortcomings. From the Back Cover This collection examines how greed should be understood and appraised. Roundly condemned by virtually all religions, greed receives mixed appraisals in the domains of business and economics. The volume examines these mixed appraisals and how they fare in light of their implications for greed in our everyday world. Greed in children is uniformly criticized by parents, other adults, and even children’s peers.  However, in adulthood, greed is commended by some as essential to profit-seeking in business and for offering the greatest promise in promoting economic prosperity for everyone. Those who advocate a more permissive position on greed in the adult world typically concede that some constraints on greed are needed. However, the supporting literature offers little analysis of what greed is (as distinct from, for example, the effort to meet modest needs, or the pursuit of ordinary self-interested ends).  It offers little clarification of what sorts of constraints on greed are needed. Nor is careful attention given to difficulties children might have in making a transition without moral loss from regarding greed as inappropriate to its later qualified acceptance. Through a secular approach, this book attempts to make significant inroads in remedying these shortcomings. About the Author Michael S. Pritchard is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy and founding director of the Center for the Study of Ethics in Society at Western Michigan University.  He continues occasionally to teach courses in practical ethics, business ethics, media ethics, the history of 18th century Scottish moral philosophy (Thomas Reid, Adam Smith, and David Hume), as well as the philosophical thinking of children. He is a founding member of the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics (APPE) and of the Society for Ethics Across the Curriculum (SEAC). For 7 years he served as co-editor, with Elaine Englehardt, of SEAC’s official journal, Teaching Ethics.  Among his many publications are: Philosophical Adventures With Children (University Press of America: 1985); On Becoming Responsible (University Press of Kansas: 1991); Communication Ethics, with James Jaksa (Wadsworth: 1988 & 1994); Engineering Ethics: Concepts & Cases, with C.E. Harris, Michael Rabins, Ray James, Elaine Englehardt (Cengage: 1995, 2000, 2005, 2009, 2013, and 2018); Reasonable Children (University Press of Kansas: 1996); Professional Integrity (University Press of Kansas: 2007); Ethical Challenges of Academic Administration, co-edited with Elaine Englehardt, Kerry Romesburg, and Brian Schrag (Springer: 2010); Obstacles to Ethical Decision-