Trousson, Raymond / Vercruysse, Jeroom (dir.), Dictionnaire general de Voltaire. (Champion classiques, references et dictionnaires 18) 1272 p. 2020:10 (Champion, FR) <670-9>
ISBN 978-2-38096-016-7 paper ¥7,064.- (税込) EUR 38.00

パースペクティブにおける金融市場－経済史と経済思想史の教訓
Arnon, Arie / Marcuzzo, M. C. / Rosselli, A. (eds.), Financial Markets in Perspective: Lessons from Economic History and History of Economic Thought. (Springer Studies in the History of Economic Thought) 290 pp. 2021:12 (Springer, GW) <668-264>
ISBN 978-3-030-86752-2 hard ¥38,892.- (税込) EUR 159.99 *

This book examines financial markets from a historical perspective. Bringing together contributions from leading historians of economic thought, economists and economic historians, it offers an integrated approach and reflects on the workings of financial markets, their impact on and relation with the rest of the economy and how their role was and is understood by economics. The contributions cover topics such as classical and modern economic thinking on financial markets and institutions, as well as financial models and innovations, and also present case studies on financial history and on policy issues. The historical perspective leads to a representation of markets not as abstract and timeless mechanisms but as institutions populated by a diversity of agents, subject to rules and customs, and influenced by scientific developments and economic theories.

K.ビンモア著　初期の功利主義者たち
Binmore, Ken, Early Utilitarians: Lives and Ideals. 95 pp. 2021:9 (Springer, GW) <668-265>
ISBN 978-3-030-74582-0 paper ¥7,289.- (税込) EUR 29.99 *

People who put the public good before their own self interest have been admired throughout history. But what is the public good? Sages and prophets who think they know better what is good for us than we know ourselves held sway on this subject for more than two thousand years. The world had to wait for the Enlightenment that burst upon the world in the eighteenth century for an account of the public good free from the prejudices of the privileged classes. Utilitarianism is our name for this new way of thinking about morality. Francis Hutcheson encapsulated its aims by inventing its catchphrase "The greatest happiness for the greatest number'' fifty years before Jeremy Bentham, to whom the slogan is usually attributed. But what is happiness? Why did Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill prefer to speak of utility? How did economists develop this notion? Does it really make sense to compare the utilities of different people? Bob may complain more than Alice in the dentist's chair, but is he really suffering more? Why should I put the sum of everybody's utility before my own utility? This short book asks how such questions arose from the social and political realities of the times in which the early utilitarians lived. Nobody need fear being crushed by heavy metaphysical reasoning or incomprehensible algebra when this story is told. This book argues that the answers to all the questions that the early utilitarians found so difficult are transparent when we stand upon their shoulders to look back upon their work. The problem for the early utilitarians was to free themselves from the prejudices of their time. The lesson for us is perhaps that we too need to free ourselves from the prejudices of our own time.

Sakamoto, Tatsuya, David Hume and Adam Smith: A Japanese Perspective. 144 pp. 2021:5 (Routledge, UK) <663-P80>
ISBN 978-0-367-68302-3 hard ¥38,907.- (税込) GB￡ 135.00 *

This book brings together a significant body of work by Tatsuya Sakamoto, a leading Japanesescholar of the history of social and economic thought, showcasing his major contributions to the study of David Hume, Adam Smith, and the Scottish Enlightenment. One of Sakamoto's persistent interests is in both philosophy and economics, which is of much importance for Hume scholars. Many "Humeans" has been interested in Hume's economic thought, although the latter has often been discussed separately from his philosophy. Sakamoto has attempted to grasp Hume's social philosophy under the concept of "Hume's philosophical economics" or his "system of manners". Sakamoto has also contributed to Hume's biographical research, such as the dating of Hume's manuscript and the discovery of an additional proof of his anonymous review of Smith's Theory of Moral Sentiments. Sakamoto's extensive knowledge and interest covers Adam Smith as well as Francis Hutcheson, with special focus on the genesis of economics and the development of moral theory in the Scottish Enlightenment. Also, Sakamoto has exhibited his lifelong interest in the intersection between the West and the East in modern intellectual history and the final section of the book explores how Smith's ideas have influenced Japanese intellectuals since the early Meiji period.This book will be of great interest to scholars and students of the history of economic thought, Hume studies, and intellectual history more broadly.