Keynes’s Philosophical Development

In this compelling book, John B. Davis examines the change and development in Keynes’s philosophical thinking, from his earliest work through to The General Theory, arguing that Keynes came to believe himself mistaken about a number of his early philosophical concepts. The author begins by looking at the unpublished ‘Apostles’ papers, written under the influence of the philosopher G. E. Moore. These display the tensions in Keynes’s early philosophical views, and outline his philosophical concepts of the time, including the concept of intuition. Davis then shows how Keynes’s later philosophy is implicit in the economic argument of The General Theory. He argues that Keynes’s philosophy had by this time changed radically, and that he had abandoned the concept of intuition for the concept of convention. The author sees this as being the central idea in The General Theory, and looks at the philosophical nature of this concept of convention in detail.

• Presents the argument that Keynes’s philosophical thinking changed from his earliest work to The General Theory • Discusses relationship between Keynes’s ethical thinking and his economic policy thinking • Examines Keynes’s unpublished ‘Apostles’ papers

Preface; Introduction: Keynes and philosophy; 1. Keynes’s early intuitionism; 2. The dilemmas of Moore’s Principia for ethics and economics; 3. Keynes’s self-critique; 4. Keynes’s later philosophy; 5. The philosophical thinking of The General Theory; 6. Ethics and policy; Conclusion: Keynes’s philosophical development; Notes; References; Index.