Sugden’s community of advantage

Abstract

Starting from a behavioural-economics critique of standard rational choice theory Sugden seeks to restate the case for classical liberalism. That case has three strands: a refutation of libertarian paternalism; a restatement of standard welfare theorems of economics in terms of opportunity sets; and underlining the role that ‘exchange’ plays in supporting civil liberal society. We explore questions about Sugden’s arguments in connection to all three strands and to relevant pieces of Adam Smith and James Buchanan to which Sugden appeals. Without substantive assumptions Sugden either adopts a view from nowhere or has to implicitly rely on non-negotiable interpersonal respect norms. ARTICLE HISTORY Received 21 July 2021 Accepted 11 October 2021