Keynes's Philosophical Development

This book examines Keynes's philosophical thinking as it developed from his earliest works through to The General Theory. It explains the role of philosophy in Keynes's later economics, showing how development and change in Keynes's philosophical thinking affected the development of his later economic thinking. The book represents a case study in the philosophy of economics, and unlike other books on the topic of Keynes and philosophy, argues that Keynes changed his philosophical views as he came to think about economics.

In this 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 The author begins by looking at the unpublished Apostles papers, written under the influence of the philosopher G.E. Moore.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 development and change in Keynes's philosophical thinking affected the development of his later economic thinking, and goes on to demonstrate 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, that he had adjusted and revised his earlier philosophical thinking, and 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.