LTProfesoriaus Valdo Pruskaus monografija, skirta ekonomikos filosofijai, – solidžios akademinės patirties ir plačių mokslinių interesų vaisius, deja, jau paskutinis nuraškytas nuo jo ilgamečių tyrinėjimų medžio. Medžio, nes jo susikertančių šakų lajoje plėtojosi ir tarpusavyje derėjo daugiakrypčiai ir įvairiasluoksniai filosofijos bei sociologijos projektai, sumanymai, idėjos, ilgainiui išplėtoti į mokslo monografijas ir vadovėlius. Šioji monografija, kurioje gvildenama ekonomikos filosofijos problematika, puikiai atskleidžia garbaus atminimo profesoriaus novatorišką, vietomis kiek postmodernistinį mąstymą, neretai netikėtus akademinius judesius ir net savotišką metodologinę ironiją, kartas nuo karto nukreiptą į konservatyvius tyrimo metodus taikančius humanitarinių mokslų bendruomenės atstovus.
ENThe Great Depression of 1929-1933 and its consequences stimulated efforts by intellectuals to seek new ways to appraise economic phenomena and predict how they might vary in a significantly broader context. In the 1980s, economics became for philosophers a serious object of study. Their eye increasingly turned to questions of economic morality as well. Some economists understood perfectly well the need for a wider perspective on economics and began to consider economic phenomena with the help of other sciences, for example, psychology, sociology, information and communications, management, their methods and knowledge. Although this intellectual movement, which took shape in the 1980s, did not take on any organized form, its participants by their deeds and insights laid the foundations for a new discipline, which was called the philosophy of economics. In the last few decades, the circle of investigators interested in questions of the philosophy of economics has grown considerably, along with the research topics. These researchers point to the influence of economic development and its changes upon various aspects of social life. This monograph analyzes the interplay of economics and philosophy, revealing what matters to philosophers in economics, how they think about economic phenomena, their causes and consequences for a variety of aspects of social life, along with the economic impact on an individual in the market as well as the market’s influence on the formation of the orientations of a society as regards its values.It presents a conception of the philosophy of economics and its interests, discusses the main methodological issues and directions as regards contemporary economics, and reveals the soundness of the application, in considering economic phenomena, of the principles of rational choice and utilitarianism, as well as the distinctiveness in the creation of economic and cultural values, and the similarities and differences in business as both an economic activity and an economic game, and the market’s influence on consumption as well as the value orientations of individuals and society, and the particularities of leisure and career in contemporary consumer society. This monograph is intended for researchers, undergraduates, and Masters and Ph.D. students who are studying economics and political sciences, business and management. Jurists and media representatives will also find it useful, as well as all who are interested in the consequences of the expression and propagation of the social norms and value orientations which the market economy fosters.