Dear Professor Gunning:

Perhaps you are thinking of "virtues" as sabbath preaching rather than 
habits of the heart we exercise moment-to-moment.  That non-preaching 
definition is the one used now in ethical philosophy, and was routine 
from Plato through Adam Smith.  Religion is not the same thing, 
therefore, as virtues.  I admire Lal's work and agree with him on many 
things.  But I'm a tiny bit suspicious of linking the actions of one man 
to the Rise of the West.  Still, it's an intriguing idea (though it 
faces the problem, then, of explaining why supposedly non-individualistic 
societies like India and China have found it so easy recently to adopt 
capitalist ways.

But we are drifting away a little from our trade-and-humans 
theme---though I'm very willing to converse on the virtues and 
capitalism with anyone who's interested!

Regards,

Deirdre McCloskey