Description
The Economics of Identity and Creativity aims to sythesize naturalistic evolutionary theory while discussing new developments in economics. The author's approach reexamines fundamental assumptions about how a capitalist economy works, from the relation between producers and consumers to the functioning of intellectual property rights. In the creative economy, the author argues, identities merge with the flow of creative action. To explain these changes, he draws upon a range of theories from analytical philosophy to biology, and from economics to sociology.
The first part of the book examines the role of language in the naturalistic approach to cultural science. Hermann-Pillath draws on Darwinian evolutionary theory to map a concept of knowledge. Part Two offers a systematic approach to creativity and identity from the naturalistic point of view developed in Part One. Here the author builds a theory of creativity from the ideas of conceptual blending in the cognitive sciences.
Herrmann-Pillath presents a theory of identity based on analytical philosophy, and looks at the problems in fixing the boundaries of an individual identity both in biological evolutionary theory and brain sciences. He takes the concept of identity through the current economic approaches, examining the distinction between social and personal identity. This fascinating interdisciplinary work provides a precise argument that the foundations of economics can be found in cultural science, and it has evolved to become the cultural institution at the core of the modern economy.
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION
PART 1: The Creative Economy and the naturalistic turn in the study of culture and the economy
ECONOMICS, LANGUAGE AND THE CREATIVE ECONOMY
NATURALISING KNOWLEDGE
BRAINS, NEUROMEMES AND EVOLUTION
SIGNAL SELECTION, SOCIAL NETWORK MARKETS AND CULTURAL SCIENCE
PART 2: An externalist theory of identity and creativity in economics
FORMS, IDENTITIES AND THE ONTOLOGICAL CREATIVITY OF LANGUAGE
THE STUFF OF NOVELTY
THE BIO-LOGIC OF IDENTITY
THE ECONOMICS OF IDENTITY
IDENTITY, INSTITUTIONAL CREATIVITY AND THE CREATIVE ECONOMY
REFERENCES
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
INDEX
