On the morals of an economic man

Abstract

The aim of the study is to study the relationship between the economic and ethical dimensions of an individual and the society. The first part of the study summarizes and develops the history of the dialectics between economic and ethical thought. The first part is focused mainly on the individual level and the propriety of the model of homooeconomicus and suggests a furthering of the model. The second part deals with collective actions on the level of industry and also suggests a model. The historical sketch of the development of the relationship between ethics and economics starts with the enquiry about the Hebrew understanding of the interdependency of ethics and economics. The study then continues through the thinking of antique writers and significant individuals such as David Hume, Adam Smith and closes with Immanuel Kant. At the end of the firs section a methodological toolbox for dealing with the topic is suggested. This section utilizes the concepts of Martin Buber, David Hume, Immanuel Kant and the key findings of institutional economics. In this part of the paper the model of homo oeconomicus is extended to include extra-economical considerations (such as family, society, etc). The second part of the study is an attempt to practically apply the findings of the first part on a case study from a market creation in the transforming Czech Republic. The author uses the recent experiences of trust building and spontaneous rule creation at originally poorly regulated Czech capital markets. The paper studies the behavior of the players at this market vis-a-vis the situation of developing institutional framework, where the players themselves had to define their own de facto rules and strive to regain the lost trust of the general public. The paper concludes with a brief model of spontaneous collective rule creation and suggests a possible path of future development.