----------------- HES POSTING ----------------- Background: For my undergraduate history of thought course, I use Heilbroner's Worldly Philosophers and cover Smith, Ricardo, Marx, Keynes, Schumpeter, and Knight. Idea: I want to conclude the section on Marx by comparing his views on the nature of human beings to those of Smith. I believe it is reasonably fair to argue that Smith sees self- interest as hard-wired and innate, while Marx believes it is learned (and depends upon such capitalist institutions as private property). Help: Can you suggest a reading that discusses this point? Google got me nothing, so I did a JSTOR search and again came up empty. I tried Smith and Marx and innate in Economics and History journals. 121 hits later, I didn't see anything jump out at me that I liked. So, instead of poking around in the electronic dark, I thought I'd try the experts on this list. You may send your suggestions or comments directly to me and I will report the results after a few days. Thanks in advance for your help, Humberto Barreto Wabash College ------------ FOOTER TO HES POSTING ------------ For information, send the message "info HES" to [log in to unmask]