Systems of Survival: A Dialogue on the Moral Foundations of Commerce and Politics

Christopher Lehmann-Haupt

Why do things go wrong in human society? It's a question that would normally stun the mind into a torpor, but it doesn't at all in Jane Jacobs's intellectually invigorating new book, somewhat unfriskily titled "Systems of Survival: A Dialogue on the Moral Foundations of Commerce and Politics". . . goes up on the bookshelf with Jane Jacobs's earlier works, the classic "Death and Life of Great American Cities," "The Economy of Cities" and "Cities and the Wealth of Nations," all there to be consulted from time to time for their quirky and original views and the way they cut through to the essence of things. -- New York Times

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

A sometimes provocative but simplistic discussion of morality in the form of a Platonic dialogue between a Manhattan publisher and his party guests. (Jan.)

Library Journal

In her latest contribution to liberal theory, Jacobs ( Cities and the Wealth of Nations , LJ 6/15/84) argues that modern societies utilize two distinctive moral systems--one being suited to the world of commerce, the other to the world of politics. Commercial morality is unsentimental, nonpartisan, and efficacious; political morality is personalistic, expansive, and vaguely altruistic. The problem is that we don't always know which system of morality to employ in concrete situations. Furthermore, the wrong choice can have disastrous consequences. Unfortunately, Jacobs invents a rather wooden cast of characters who engage in a Socratic dialog that reproduces the author's perspective on the two fundamental types of morality. As a result, the book's credible philosophical message becomes obscured by the superficiality and hamfistedness of the characters' conversations. A few readers may find Jacobs's literary device helpful; most will find it distracting. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 8/92.-- Kent Worcester, Social Science Research Council, New York