Wicksteed, Philip

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'''Philip Henry Wicksteed''' (October 25, 1844 – March 18, 1927) was an [[England|English]] [[Unitarian]] [[theology|theologian]], [[classics|classicist]], literary critic, and [[economics|economist]]. He was one of the first disciples of [[economics|economist]] [[William Stanley Jevons]], expounding on his ideas of the [[marginal utility theory]]. He was also supporter of [[socialism|socialist]] ideas and has been associated with [[Fabian Society]]. His work on [[Dante Alighieri]] established him as one of the foremost [[Middle Ages|medievalists]] of his time.
  
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'''Philip Henry Wicksteed''' (25 October 1844 – 18 March 1927) was an [[England|English]] [[Unitarian]] theologian, classicist, literary critic, and economist.
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==Life==
  
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Born in 1844 as the son of a [[Unitarian]] clergyman, Wicksteed was educated at [[University College, London]] and [[Manchester New College]] from 1861 to 1867, when he received his master's degree, with a gold medal in classics. Following his father into the Unitarian ministry in 1867, Wicksteed embarked on an extraordinarily broad range of scholarly and theological explorations.  
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'''Philip Henry Wicksteed''' was born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, [[England]], the son of a [[Unitarianism|Unitarian]] [[ministry|minister]]. He was educated at Ruthin Grammar School, and from 1861 to 1867 at [[University College, London]] and [[Manchester New College]], where he received his master's degree, with a gold medal in [[classics]]. After graduation, he followed his father and became a Unitarian minister in 1867, the career path he followed for 30 years.  
  
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His [[theology|theological]] and ethical writings continued long after he left the pulpit (in 1897), and appear to have been the initial point of departure for a number of his other fields of scholarly inquiry. These included, in particular, his deep interest in [[Dante Alighieri|Dante]] scholarship, an interest which not only produced a remarkable list of publications, but which also built Wicksteed's reputation as one of the foremost medievalists of his time. It was Wicksteed's theologically-driven interest in and concern for the [[ethics]] of modern commercial society, with its disturbing inequalities of wealth and income, which appear to have led him into his economic studies (following on his reading of [[Henry George]]'s 1879 ''Progress and Poverty'').  
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In 1868 Wicksteed married Emily Rebecca, the eldest daughter of the Rev. Henry Solly (1813 - 1903), minister and a [[social reforms|social reformer]]. The couple first lived in Taunton, but in 1870 moved to Dukinfield, near Manchester. They stayed there for four years before moving to the Little Portland Street Chapel in London, where Wicksteed served as a minister. They remained there until 1897.
  
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Perhaps it was just circumstance that economics entered into Wicksteed's field of scholarly vision as only one of a number of areas of his interest, (most of them to which he was committed for years before he began his [[economics]]) and in the middle of the fourth decade of his life, which led [[Joseph Schumpeter]] to remark that Wicksteed “stood somewhat outside of the economics profession.”
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Wicksteed started to write on a wide range of topics, from [[theology]] to [[ethics]] and [[literature]]. He had a deep interest in [[Dante Alighieri]], and has published several works on him in his career. His reading of [[Henry George]]'s 1879 ''Progress and Poverty'' led him into his economic studies.  
  
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Yet, within a few years Wicksteed was to publish significant economic work of his own, carefully expounding on the theory he learned from [[William Stanley Jevons|Jevons]], and to become for many years a lecturer on economics for the University Extension Lectures (a kind of adult-education program initiated in the [[United Kingdom|UK]] in the 1870s to extend “the teaching of the universities, to serve up some of the crumbs from the university tables, in a portable and nutritious form, for some of the multitude who had no chance of sitting there”).  
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In 1887, Wicksteed became a lecturer on [[economics]] for the University Extension Lectures in [[London]], a sort of [[adult-education]] program established in 1870s for the unfortunate ones who, for some reason, were not able to enroll into the main university programs. He lectured on Dante, [[political economy]], [[William Wordsworth]] and [[Greek tragedy]].  
  
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In 1894, Wicksteed published his celebrated ''An Essay on the Co-ordination of the Laws of Distribution'', in which he sought to prove mathematically that a distributive system which rewarded factory-owners according to marginal productivity would exhaust the total product produced. But it was his 1910 ''The Common Sense of Political Economy'' which most comprehensively presents Wicksteed's [[economic system]], and which expresses most clearly and emphatically those insights which today's [[Austrian School|Austrian]]s find most congenial.  
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Wicksteed was associated with the [[Fabian Society]], the upper-middle-class intellectual group founded in London in 1884 that supported and propagated the [[socialism|socialist]] ideas. Wicksteed sympathized with the goal of Fabians, but was critical of the group’s support of [[Marx]]’s economical ideas. He even tutored [[George Bernard Shaw]] in the basic [[David Ricardo|Ricardian]] [[economics]], what Shaw used in his later criticism of Marxian economics.  
  
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Important elements of this “[[Austrian School|Austrian]]” side of Wicksteed's work were concisely presented by him in his 1913 Presidential Address to Section F of the [[British Association]], published in Economic Journal, March 1914, under the title “The Scope and Method of Political Economy in the light of the ‘Marginal’ Theory of Value and Distribution.”
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In 1894 Wicksteed published his famous ''An Essay on the Co-ordination of the Laws of Distribution'', which further established him as a renowned economist.
  
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== External links ==
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Wicksteed served as lecturer for the University Extension Lectures until his retirement in 1918. He died on March 18, 1927, in Childrey, Berkshire, [[England]].
  
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*[http://www.mises.org/wicksteedbio.asp Mises Institute Biography]
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==Work==
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*[http://dmoz.org/Science/Social_Sciences/Economics/Schools_of_Thought/Austrian_School/People/Wicksteed,_Philip_H/ Open Directory Project - Philip H. Wicksteed] directory category
 
  
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In his early career Wicksteed was primarily involved in [[theology|theological]] and [[philosophy|philosophical]] discourse, writing mostly on the problems in [[ethics]]. He was also deeply interested in [[Dante Alighieri]] on whom he wrote numerous publications, which established him as one of the foremost [[Middle Ages|medievalists]] of his time. It was Wicksteed's concern for the [[ethics]] of modern society, with its social inequalities and growing [[materialism|materialist culture]], that seems to have led him to turn toward economic studies. Wicksteed also read [[Henry George]]'s 1879 ''Progress and Poverty'' which deeply affected his ideas.
 +
 +
Wicksteed entered the field of [[economics]] rather late - in the middle of the fourth decade of his life. That led [[Joseph Schumpeter]] to comment that Wicksteed “stood somewhat outside of the economics profession.” Wicksteed nevertheless soon started to publish numerous economical works of his own. He expounded on the theory of [[William Stanley Jevons]], English economist who developed the [[marginal utility theory]] of value in 1860s.
 +
 +
It was Wicksteed’s common ground with Carl Menger and Ludwig von Mises that connects him with the Austrian School of economic thought. Wicksteed’s interpretation of modern economics was drastically different from the one by Alfred Marshall, which dominated British economical though at the time.
 +
 +
In 1894, Wicksteed published his famous ''An Essay on the Co-ordination of the Laws of Distribution'', in which he tried to prove mathematically that according to marginal productivity theory, distributive system which rewarded factory owners would eventually exhaust the total product produced. Wicksteed also emphasized the opportunity cost and reservation demand in defining value, refusing to consider supply as an otherwise independent cause of value. It was his 1910 book, ''The Common Sense of Political Economy'' that most transparently presented Wicksteed's economic ideas. That work is also often considered his best work, the one that strongly connects him with the [[Austrian School]] of economics.
 +
 +
Wicksteed’s view on the role of cost in the theory of economic value brings him the furthest from the Marshallian economics. He wrote in 1905:
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:"The school of economists of which Professor Marshall is the illustrious head," Wicksteed wrote in 1905, "may be regarded from the point of view of the thorough-going Jevonian as a school of apologists. It accepts . . . the Jevonian principals, but declares that, so far from being revolutionary, they merely supplement, clarify, and elucidate the theories they profess to destroy. To scholars of this school the admission into the science of the renovated study of consumption leaves the study of production comparatively unaffected. As a determining factor of normal prices, cost of production is coordinate with the schedule of demands” (Wicksteed, 1905).
 +
 +
Wicksteed rebelled against classical view of production activity which saw production separated from the marginal utility considerations governing consumption activity. He claimed that there is no such thing as an independent "supply curve". The supply curve is a part of what Wicksteed called the "total demand curve".
 +
 +
Wicksteed also supported Austrian view of economics as a science of overall human action, in contrast to classical economists who focused mostly on the economical processes driven by human selfish motives. Wicksteed insisted that such view was oversimplified, and that humans act based on purposefulness and rationality. In contrast to Austrians who were critical of socialism, Wicksteed was deeply sympathetic to it.
 +
 +
==Legacy==
 +
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Wicksteed’s work has not received much attention from the academic community neither during his lifetime nor after his death. Although some economists recognize his ingenuity, most historians simply regard him as a disciple of William Stanley Jevons. Wicksteed has however left certain impact on the followers of Austrian School. Ludwig von Mises frequently referred to Wicksteed’s work.
 +
 +
==Publications==
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* Wicksteed, Philip H. 1879. Dante: Six sermons. London: C. Kegan Paul
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* Wicksteed, Philip H. 1885. Our Prayers and our Politics. London: Swan Sonnenschein, Le Bas & Lowrey
 +
* Wicksteed, Philip H. 1888. The Alphabet of Economic Science. London: Macmillan
 +
* Wicksteed, Philip H. 1894. An Essay of the Co-ordination of the Laws of Distribution. London: Macmillan
 +
* Wicksteed, Philip H. 1897. Getting and Spending: Papers on the meaning and uses of money.
 +
* Wicksteed, Philip H. 1905. Jevons's Economic Work. Economic Journal, 15 (59), p.432-6
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* Wicksteed, Philip H. 1920. The Reactions between Dogma and Philosophy: Illustrated from the works of S. Thomas Aquinas. London: Williams and Norgate
 +
* Wicksteed, Philip H. 2002 (original published in 1913). Dante and Aquinas. Honolulu, HI: University Press of the Pacific. ISBN: 1410201414
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* Wicksteed, Philip H., and Ian Steedman (ed.). 1999. Collected works of Philip Henry Wicksteed. Bristol: Thoemmes Press. ISBN 1855066211
 +
* Wicksteed, Philip H., and J.E. Carpenter 2005 (original published in 1903). Studies in Theology. Adamant Media Corporation. ISBN 1421265591
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* Wicksteed, Philip H., and Lionel Robbins (ed.) 2003 (original published in 1910). The Common Sense of Political Economy. London: Routledge
 +
 +
==References==
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* Comim, Flavio. 2004. The Common Sense of Political Economy of Philip Wicksteed. History of Political Economy. 36(3), 475-495.
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* Herford C. H. 1931. Philip Henry Wicksteed: His Life and Work. London: J.M. Dent
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* Kirzner, Israel M. Philip Wicksteed - The "Austrian" Economist. Ludwig von Mises Institute, <http://www.mises.org>. Retrieved on August 13, 2007, <http://www.mises.org/about/3245>
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* Steedman, Ian. 1987. Wicksteed, Philip Henry. In John Eatwell, Murray Milgate, and Peter Newman (eds.), The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics (4 volumes). Macmillan.
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==External links==
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* [http://cepa.newschool.edu/het/texts/wicksteed/wickess.pdf Essay on the Co-ordination of the Laws of Distribution] by Philip Wicksteed (1894)
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* [http://cepa.newschool.edu/het/profiles/wicksteed.htm Major Works of Philip Wicksteed] – List of his major works on New School University website
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* [http://www.economyprofessor.com/theorists/philipwicksteed.php Philip Henry Wicksteed] - Biography on Economy Professor website
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* [http://www.mises.org/about/3245 Philip Henry Wicksteed - The "Austrian" Economist] – Biography on Ludvig von Mises Institute
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* [http://cepa.newschool.edu/het/texts/wicksteed/fluxess.pdf Review of Wicksteed's Essay on the Co-ordination of the Laws of Distribution] by A.W. Flux (1894)
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* [http://socserv2.socsci.mcmaster.ca/~econ/ugcm/3ll3/wicksteed/index.html Wicksteed’s works] - Some full-text Wicksteed’s books
  
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{{Credit1|Philip_Wicksteed|86359171|}}

Revision as of 08:59, 13 August 2007


Philip Henry Wicksteed (October 25, 1844 – March 18, 1927) was an English Unitarian theologian, classicist, literary critic, and economist. He was one of the first disciples of economist William Stanley Jevons, expounding on his ideas of the marginal utility theory. He was also supporter of socialist ideas and has been associated with Fabian Society. His work on Dante Alighieri established him as one of the foremost medievalists of his time.

Life

Philip Henry Wicksteed was born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, the son of a Unitarian minister. He was educated at Ruthin Grammar School, and from 1861 to 1867 at University College, London and Manchester New College, where he received his master's degree, with a gold medal in classics. After graduation, he followed his father and became a Unitarian minister in 1867, the career path he followed for 30 years.

In 1868 Wicksteed married Emily Rebecca, the eldest daughter of the Rev. Henry Solly (1813 - 1903), minister and a social reformer. The couple first lived in Taunton, but in 1870 moved to Dukinfield, near Manchester. They stayed there for four years before moving to the Little Portland Street Chapel in London, where Wicksteed served as a minister. They remained there until 1897.

Wicksteed started to write on a wide range of topics, from theology to ethics and literature. He had a deep interest in Dante Alighieri, and has published several works on him in his career. His reading of Henry George's 1879 Progress and Poverty led him into his economic studies.

In 1887, Wicksteed became a lecturer on economics for the University Extension Lectures in London, a sort of adult-education program established in 1870s for the unfortunate ones who, for some reason, were not able to enroll into the main university programs. He lectured on Dante, political economy, William Wordsworth and Greek tragedy.

Wicksteed was associated with the Fabian Society, the upper-middle-class intellectual group founded in London in 1884 that supported and propagated the socialist ideas. Wicksteed sympathized with the goal of Fabians, but was critical of the group’s support of Marx’s economical ideas. He even tutored George Bernard Shaw in the basic Ricardian economics, what Shaw used in his later criticism of Marxian economics.

In 1894 Wicksteed published his famous An Essay on the Co-ordination of the Laws of Distribution, which further established him as a renowned economist.

Wicksteed served as lecturer for the University Extension Lectures until his retirement in 1918. He died on March 18, 1927, in Childrey, Berkshire, England.

Work

In his early career Wicksteed was primarily involved in theological and philosophical discourse, writing mostly on the problems in ethics. He was also deeply interested in Dante Alighieri on whom he wrote numerous publications, which established him as one of the foremost medievalists of his time. It was Wicksteed's concern for the ethics of modern society, with its social inequalities and growing materialist culture, that seems to have led him to turn toward economic studies. Wicksteed also read Henry George's 1879 Progress and Poverty which deeply affected his ideas.

Wicksteed entered the field of economics rather late - in the middle of the fourth decade of his life. That led Joseph Schumpeter to comment that Wicksteed “stood somewhat outside of the economics profession.” Wicksteed nevertheless soon started to publish numerous economical works of his own. He expounded on the theory of William Stanley Jevons, English economist who developed the marginal utility theory of value in 1860s.

It was Wicksteed’s common ground with Carl Menger and Ludwig von Mises that connects him with the Austrian School of economic thought. Wicksteed’s interpretation of modern economics was drastically different from the one by Alfred Marshall, which dominated British economical though at the time.

In 1894, Wicksteed published his famous An Essay on the Co-ordination of the Laws of Distribution, in which he tried to prove mathematically that according to marginal productivity theory, distributive system which rewarded factory owners would eventually exhaust the total product produced. Wicksteed also emphasized the opportunity cost and reservation demand in defining value, refusing to consider supply as an otherwise independent cause of value. It was his 1910 book, The Common Sense of Political Economy that most transparently presented Wicksteed's economic ideas. That work is also often considered his best work, the one that strongly connects him with the Austrian School of economics.

Wicksteed’s view on the role of cost in the theory of economic value brings him the furthest from the Marshallian economics. He wrote in 1905:

"The school of economists of which Professor Marshall is the illustrious head," Wicksteed wrote in 1905, "may be regarded from the point of view of the thorough-going Jevonian as a school of apologists. It accepts . . . the Jevonian principals, but declares that, so far from being revolutionary, they merely supplement, clarify, and elucidate the theories they profess to destroy. To scholars of this school the admission into the science of the renovated study of consumption leaves the study of production comparatively unaffected. As a determining factor of normal prices, cost of production is coordinate with the schedule of demands” (Wicksteed, 1905).

Wicksteed rebelled against classical view of production activity which saw production separated from the marginal utility considerations governing consumption activity. He claimed that there is no such thing as an independent "supply curve". The supply curve is a part of what Wicksteed called the "total demand curve".

Wicksteed also supported Austrian view of economics as a science of overall human action, in contrast to classical economists who focused mostly on the economical processes driven by human selfish motives. Wicksteed insisted that such view was oversimplified, and that humans act based on purposefulness and rationality. In contrast to Austrians who were critical of socialism, Wicksteed was deeply sympathetic to it.

Legacy

Wicksteed’s work has not received much attention from the academic community neither during his lifetime nor after his death. Although some economists recognize his ingenuity, most historians simply regard him as a disciple of William Stanley Jevons. Wicksteed has however left certain impact on the followers of Austrian School. Ludwig von Mises frequently referred to Wicksteed’s work.

Publications

  • Wicksteed, Philip H. 1879. Dante: Six sermons. London: C. Kegan Paul
  • Wicksteed, Philip H. 1885. Our Prayers and our Politics. London: Swan Sonnenschein, Le Bas & Lowrey
  • Wicksteed, Philip H. 1888. The Alphabet of Economic Science. London: Macmillan
  • Wicksteed, Philip H. 1894. An Essay of the Co-ordination of the Laws of Distribution. London: Macmillan
  • Wicksteed, Philip H. 1897. Getting and Spending: Papers on the meaning and uses of money.
  • Wicksteed, Philip H. 1905. Jevons's Economic Work. Economic Journal, 15 (59), p.432-6
  • Wicksteed, Philip H. 1920. The Reactions between Dogma and Philosophy: Illustrated from the works of S. Thomas Aquinas. London: Williams and Norgate
  • Wicksteed, Philip H. 2002 (original published in 1913). Dante and Aquinas. Honolulu, HI: University Press of the Pacific. ISBN: 1410201414
  • Wicksteed, Philip H., and Ian Steedman (ed.). 1999. Collected works of Philip Henry Wicksteed. Bristol: Thoemmes Press. ISBN 1855066211
  • Wicksteed, Philip H., and J.E. Carpenter 2005 (original published in 1903). Studies in Theology. Adamant Media Corporation. ISBN 1421265591
  • Wicksteed, Philip H., and Lionel Robbins (ed.) 2003 (original published in 1910). The Common Sense of Political Economy. London: Routledge

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Comim, Flavio. 2004. The Common Sense of Political Economy of Philip Wicksteed. History of Political Economy. 36(3), 475-495.
  • Herford C. H. 1931. Philip Henry Wicksteed: His Life and Work. London: J.M. Dent
  • Kirzner, Israel M. Philip Wicksteed - The "Austrian" Economist. Ludwig von Mises Institute, <http://www.mises.org>. Retrieved on August 13, 2007, <http://www.mises.org/about/3245>
  • Steedman, Ian. 1987. Wicksteed, Philip Henry. In John Eatwell, Murray Milgate, and Peter Newman (eds.), The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics (4 volumes). Macmillan.

External links

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