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Whereas a generation or two ago there was widespread confidence that economic growth, technological advance, and\/or the spread of democracy would gradually create a better world, many today fear that these processes generate more problems than they solve. This skepticism regarding the possibility of progress is closely associated with three other attitudes. There is widespread doubt, at least among the intellectual class, that human reason and ingenuity can solve the world's problems. This doubt is related to a concern that the contemporary world is too complex and unpredictable for purposeful human action to have much impact on the future course of events. Finally, there is doubt that there are universal ethical standards: if humanity cannot agree on what is the nature of the good life, we can hardly work toward progress nor recognize it if we achieve it. This book starts from a belief that there is considerable merit in these four related concerns. However, it will be argued that they need not lead to despair: the idea of human progress is still viable, though progress is not inevitable. This book will therefore outline a variety of goals for both activists and intellectuals to pursue in order to generate a progressive future for humanity. The legitimate concerns noted above regarding complexity, ethics, and the exercise of reason must first be addressed; it will turn out that answers to these three critiques will provide coherence to the various reform initiatives to be outlined. Firstly, a universal ethics can (ironically) be grounded in diversity by appreciating that diverse ethical perspectives often point in the same direction. This book identifies five types of ethical analysis and an 'ethical core' of statements supported by each of these. 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ARTbibliographies Modern    Historians of economic thought have long recognised the possibility that cultural influences might be important, but have never analysed them in any detail. In the first study of economics from the perspective of art history, Rick Szostak shows how the cultural influences identified by art historians have affected economic theory. He also reveals that not only has economic theory been informed by aesthetic considerations, but the very methods employed by economists are shown to serve primarily artistic goals.     Professor Szostak assesses the extent of these cultural and aesthetic effects through a wide-ranging study of the development of surrealism, cubism and abstract art, juxtaposed with examples drawn from virtually every field of economics. Two types of endeavour are identified, Econ-Art and Econ-Science. Szostak argues that the pursuit of econ-science would be much aided if economists first recognised their artistic impulses, and then developed more scientific standards of conduct. As the first economist to thoroughly address the question of whether Economics is Art, Professor Szostak raises some important philosophical issues with this volume. 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