The Acquisitive Society

Richard Henry TawneyProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 4.0

Word count: 300K words
Chapters: 31

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The Acquisitive Society by R. H. TawneyAuthor: Tawney, R. H. (Richard Henry), 1880-1962,Language: English, Class: HB: Social sciences: Economic theory, Demography, Release Date: Sep 16, 2010

Editor's review

The Acquisitive Society is one of the representative works of the British economic historian and social thinker R. H. Tawney, focusing on the dysfunction produced by a social order centered on possession and profit. Tawney does not proceed by abstract model-building; instead he asks, from the standpoint of social function and public responsibility, what costs society pays when property and industrial activity are severed from the purpose of serving society. The argument is clear and the prose restrained, combining intellectual-historical depth with a critical awareness of real institutions; it is an important text for understanding early twentieth-century British social reform thought. For today's readers, the book's discussion of ownership, professional responsibility, and the public interest remains instructive and rewards slow, questioning reading. Note that its context is now distant from today's economic institutions; readers should approach it as intellectual history and institutional critique rather than as a ready-made policy program.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Economics and sociology readers interested in the history of social thought and institutional critique
University teachers and students studying property rights, professional ethics, and the public interest
Readers seeking to understand twentieth-century British social reform from the perspective of intellectual history
General readers with English reading ability who enjoy slow reading of argumentative works

Not a good fit for

Practitioners looking for concrete policy programs or operational guides
Beginning readers expecting a light introduction or a quick overview of economic common sense
Readers unaccustomed to long English arguments who prefer case-based narrative

Reading tips

Read the table of contents and conclusion first to grasp the book's central question and argumentative framework before entering the main text.
Note core concepts and key judgments as you read, tracing the author's definitions of property and function.
Read alongside background material on early twentieth-century British society to understand the targets of the argument and its context.
After finishing, write a short review restating the author's central claims and limitations in your own words.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

What is this book mainly about?

The book critiques a social order centered on possession and profit, asking what dysfunction arises when property and industrial activity are severed from the purpose of serving society, and offers reflection from the standpoint of social function and public responsibility. It belongs to social thought and institutional critique, not to economics textbooks.

Can I read it without a background in economics?

You can try, but patience is required. The argument is mainly intellectual history and institutional critique and does not rely on complex mathematical models, but it involves concepts such as property rights and the division of labor. It is advisable to learn some basic background first and to read slowly, tracing the author's core judgments.

Are the book's views still applicable today?

The specific institutional context it addresses is now distant, so it should not be taken directly as a policy program. But its questions about ownership, professional responsibility, and the public interest have intellectual value across eras and are well suited as a historical reference for understanding related issues.

Is it suitable as course reading?

It is suitable as supplementary reading for courses on the history of social thought, the history of economic thought, or institutional ethics. Teachers can pair it with historical background materials and contemporary discussion to guide students in examining the author's premises, avoiding direct application of conclusions out of context.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Richard Henry Tawney Author · British · 1880–1962

Richard Henry Tawney (1880–1962) was a British economic historian. His work examined capitalism from the perspective of social ethics, focusing on the moral and social questions behind economic institutions. His representative works include The Agrarian Problem in the Sixteenth Century and The Acquisitive Society. He also wrote Religion and the Rise of Capitalism, by which he is widely known. This Chinese book site holds two of his works; common classification information is currently unavailable, and public information is limited. Overall, Tawney's writing combines economic-historical scholarship with ethical critique, and his discussion of capitalism and social justice continues to influence later research in economic history and social thought.