Series
Shaw Foundation Lecture
Wealth, poverty, and virtue: Adam Smith’s case for (and against) the market
Open To
SMU Community, Public
Event Image
Synopsis
The figure above demonstrates the Müller-Lyer illusion, where equal-length lines appear different due to cognitive processing, illustrating how perceptions can mislead us – a key concept in Behavioural Economics. This field explores how psychological attributes affect economic decisions. Our lecture will first examine examples of how these attributes lead to seemingly irrational decisions. Then we will discuss leveraging an understanding of behavioural biases to subtly influence decision-making contexts, nudging individuals towards more desirable choices.
Speaker
Speaker Details
Ryan Patrick Hanley
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Ryan Patrick Hanley is Professor of Political Science at Boston College. Prior to joining the faculty at Boston College, he was the Mellon Distinguished Professor of Political Science at Marquette University, and held visiting appointments or fellowships at Yale, Harvard, and the University of Chicago. A specialist on the political philosophy of the Enlightenment period, he is the author of Adam Smith and the Character of Virtue (Cambridge, 2009), Love's Enlightenment: Rethinking Charity in Modernity (Cambridge, 2017), and Our Great Purpose: Adam Smith on Living a Better Life (Princeton, 2019). His most recent books are The Political Philosophy of Fénelon, and a companion translation volume, Fénelon: Moral and Political Writings, both published by Oxford in 2020. |
In Partnership With
