Research On Keynesian Philosophy

Keynes was one of the greatest economists of the 20 th century and an accomplished philosopher.Like his best-known economic writing The General Theory of Employment,Interest and Money,Keynes’ early major philosophical work A Treatise on Probability was also a great book which had a significant influence on the field of probability philosophy and probability logic,thus helping Keynes establish his position in philosophy.His other philosophical ideas are mainly reflected in some of his early philosophical papers and later economic and political works,making certain contribution to the fields of moral philosophy,economic philosophy and political philosophy,among others.Since 1980 s,the western academic world has made a more in-depth study of Keynes’ s philosophy and of the relationship between his philosophical thought and his economic and other aspects of thought in a way that has presented Keynes as a philosopher more clearly.Although researchers in this field are still controversial on many issues,they generally agree that Keynes was a great philosopher-economist who can be compared to Adam Smith and Marx.However,the new progress in Keynesian studies in the western academic world is not visibly reflected in Keynesian studies in China.In view of this,this paper attempts to make a systematic and thorough study of Keynes’ s philosophical thought based on the relevant researches of western academicians,so as to promote a more comprehensive and in-depth understanding of Keynesian thought and its historical contribution.The formation and development of Keynesian philosophy can be divided into three periods--his study period in Cambridge,the formation period of probability theory and the period after probability theory.From the main content of Keynesian philosophy,it can be generally divided into probability philosophy,moral philosophy,economic philosophy and political philosophy.Probability philosophy is about the understanding basis of rational action.Moral philosophy is about the ultimate purpose of rational action and the principle of action,while economic philosophy and political philosophy are about how to achieve ethical goals.First--Keynes’ s philosophy of probability.Unlike probabilities stated in frequency theory and subjective theory,Keynes viewed probability as the logical relationship between premises and conclusion.Probability consists of three basic elements: secondary propositions,premise and conclusion,wherein the secondary proposition is direct knowledge,which can only be obtained by intuition.Keynes distinguished between known probabilities and unknown probabilities based on different reasons,and distinguished known probabilities into non-numerical probabilities and numerical probabilities.Keynesian probability is characterized by richness and heterogeneity.He believed that only some probabilities were known,a few probabilities could be compared sequentially,and quite a few probabilities were numerical,which greatly affected the applicability of probability calculation.The weight of argument is an important concept in Keynesian probability philosophy.From the view of rational actors’ decision-making,the weight of argument is closely related to the confidence of decision makers,and if other conditions remain the same,the greater the weight of argument,the more confident the rational actors are.Keynes distinguished knowledge as direct knowledge and indirect knowledge.The former refers to knowledge that is known directly through intuition or reflection,while the later means knowledge that is obtained through reasoning.Through Keynes’ s analysis of intuition,his priori synthesis of truth and true definition,we can tell that he is a rationalist,and can be regarded as a "rationalist of faith".Second--Keynes’ s moral philosophy.Keynes’ s moral philosophy originated mainly from Moore’s Principles of Ethics.Keynes agreed with Moore’s view that "goodness is indefinable" and "personal love and aesthetic enjoyment are the greatest good",but he disagreed with Moore’s view that "good is a highly integrated organism".In addition,Keynes disagreed with Moore’s rule utilitarianism,arguing that the rules were sometimes useful,but there was no general guarantee.He contended that the independent judgment of the individual was the last court of rational decision-making.Keynes’ s moral philosophical position can be regarded as "ideal utilitarianism".Third--Keynes’ s economic philosophy.Keynes believed that economics was a moral science.The term moral science has duality.On the one hand,economics is scientific and regular.On the other hand,the objects and materials discussed in economics are constantly changing,thus they are inaccurate and different from natural science.Keynes also believed that economics was a methodological study that served ethical objectives.Meanwhile,Keynes contended that economics was a branch of logic,a way of thinking and reasoning.Keynes took a neutral position on the debate between the school of generalization and the school of deduction in economic methodology.Regarding the Keynesian revolution,the academic world has come to the judgments of "demand revolution","macro revolution" or "intervention revolution".This paper holds it that essentially it is a revolution of uncertainty and expectation.Fourth--Keynes’ s political philosophy.Keynes’ s political philosophy was deeply influenced by Burke,the founder of British conservatism.Keynes agreed with Burke that "political science is the study of means and serves the well-being of the people",but he disagreed with Burke’s liberalist stance and argued that the state had reasons to intervene in the economic and social life.Keynes believed that a free-flowing capitalist society was a society of "currency rule" and a society of moral decline.Therefore a utopian ideal society with far less influence of money was needed.The ideal society he put forward was a society of economic efficiency,social justice and individual freedom,which this paper calls "society of all intentions".The "middle way" is an effective way to realize the congenial society.Keynesian philosophy has a significant impact on western society.At the same time,we can draw on the useful enlightenment of creating a better life in contemporary China.In the understanding of the subject of good life,we can learn from Keynes’ s "belief rationalism" thought which contains rationality and irrationality,and pay more attention to the individuality of good life.In the connotation of a better life,we can learn from Keynes’ s "ideal utilitarianism" as well as the "desirable society" thinking,the unity of economic efficiency,social justice and personal freedom,in a bid to pay more attention to the spirit of a better life.In the path of the creation of a better life,we can learn from the Keynes’ s thought that "Economy and politics are means and they are to serve ethical objectives",so as to pay more attention to the flexibility of creating a better life.