Robert H. Scott - Kenneth Boulding: A Friends' Economist

jpe:9030 - Journal of Philosophical Economics, May 10, 2022, Volume XV - https://doi.org/10.46298/jpe.9030
Kenneth Boulding: A Friends' EconomistArticle

Authors: Robert H. Scott 1

This paper examines Kenneth Boulding's (1910-1993) religious beliefs and argues he was one of the most prolific religious economists in the 20 th century. He was an enigmatic economist whose career spanned over six decades. He helped to establish the field of general systems and furthered peace studies and conflict and defense. His early work earned him the John Bates Clark medal in 1949. But behind Boulding's theoretical economics was a deep religious ideology. Strongly affected by World War I while growing up in Liverpool, England, Boulding became a lifelong pacifist. Raised Methodist, Boulding discovered Quakerism in high school. While Boulding published widely in the field of economics, he also published almost 100 articles in Quaker journals. Boulding's body of work in economics and Quakerism led to interesting crosspollination. His work on peace and conflict and defense were a direct result of his pacifism. Boulding's work shows deep concern for human betterment and prosperity that is seeped in his religious principles.


Volume: Volume XV
Section: Articles
Published on: May 10, 2022
Accepted on: April 26, 2022
Submitted on: February 1, 2022
Keywords: human betterment,Kenneth Boulding,pacifism,Quakers,Religious Society of Friends,JEL: B - History of Economic Thought, Methodology, and Heterodox Approaches/B.B3 - History of Economic Thought: Individuals/B.B3.B31 - Individuals,[SHS.ECO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Economics and Finance

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