Milestones in the Formation of Moral Foundations of Russian Political Economy in the 19th Century

The article examines the essence and features of the moral Russian political economy that formed in the 19th century. The author’s scientific hypothesis is proposed, according to which the previously existing prerequisites for the formation of moral Russian political economy determined the commitment of its adherents to the principles of social justice and moral and ethical norms of human existence in solving urgent problems of overcoming disproportions and crises in the development of economic life. Against the background of the implementation of this hypothesis, the rejection by Russian political economists of the 19th century of the Smithian metaphor about the allegedly always rational direction of the actions of a purely egoistic economic man by the “invisible hand”, that is, the omnipotent “objective economic laws” has been clearly revealed. The article demonstrates the opposition of the “Say’s law of markets”, which tells about the predetermination of the equilibrium of the free competition economy, the assertions of Russian scientists that the achievement of an equilibrium economy requires regulatory participation, from a moral position, participation in this process of society and the state. The decisive role in the formation of moral political economy in Russia of prominent domestic adherents of two political economic paradigms – the Smithian paradigm and utopian socialism – is shown.