Self-interest and French ‘Philosophie économique’ 1695–1830

In this chapter, we focus on the French economists that, all along the eighteenth century, formed what we call “philosophie économique”. In Sect. 2, this current of thought is precisely defined: a review of the troops shows how its members (Boisguilbert, Quesnay, Turgot, Condorcet and Say) refer to a new view on the nature and role of self-interest, and why, in their opinion, self-interest is supposed to reach positive results, both at the individual and collective levels. Section 3 deals with how, in this approach, the Legislator is supposed to act in this new environment, trying to use self-interest as a means of government, and how it is supposed to make decisions. Section 4 concludes, stressing the fact that, parallel to the recognition of the positive role of self-interest, more and more critical voices arose to stress at the same time the limits of this approach and the essential role played by other important elements—religion, morals, altruism—neglected by “philosophie économique”.