Description
Book SynopsisPride and Profit explores the ways in which Jane Austen’s novels interact with the ideas of economist Adam Smith. Bohanon and Vachris show how Smithian perspectives on virtue are depicted in Austen’s novels and how Smith’s and Austen’s perspectives reflect and define the bourgeois culture of the Enlightenment and industrial revolution.
Trade ReviewWhat do Adam Smith and Jane Austen have in common? This tour de force ties the worlds of economics and literature together, leaving the reader delighted and informed along the way. -- Tyler Cowen, Holbert L. Harris Professor of Economics, George Mason University, and general director, Mercatus Center
With insight, wit, and sound judgment, Bohanon and Vachris not only show us the perhaps surprising degree to which Austen and Smith complement and enrich each other, but they also enhance and deepen our own understanding of human sociality. Perhaps we could not have known just how much a book like this needed writing, but now that Pride and Profit is here one has to wonder whether we truly understood Austen, Smith, or human sociality before. -- James R. Otteson, Wake Forest University
Table of Contents1 Introduction: Why Jane Austen and Adam Smith? 2 A General Introduction to Smith's Moral Theory 3 Virtues and Vices in Smith 4 Self-Command in Sense and Sensibility 5 Prudence, Benevolence, and Justice in Mansfield Park 6 Vanity in Persuasion 7 Pride in Pride and Prejudice 8 Greed and Promises in Northanger Abbey 9 Man of System and Impartial Spectator in Emma 10 Land Rents, Income, and Entails 11 Representation of Business in Smith and Austen: Adopting the Bourgeois Virtues 12 Social Rank in Smith and Austen 13 Reflections on the Intersection between Jane Austen and Adam Smith and its Relevance for Today
