--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: While I am interested both in economics…" description: "\"While I am interested both in economics and in philosophy, the union of my interests in the two fields far exceeds their intersection.\" — Amartya Sen" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/34c/amartya-sen-2518_economics_while-i-am-interested-both-in-economics_221655.png" --- # While I am interested both in economics and in philosophy… ![“While I am interested both in economics and in philosophy, the union of my interests in the two fields far exceeds their intersection.” quote by Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/34c/amartya-sen-2518_economics_while-i-am-interested-both-in-economics_221655.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/34c/amartya-sen-2518_economics_while-i-am-interested-both-in-economics_221655.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/34c/amartya-sen-2518_economics_while-i-am-interested-both-in-economics_221655.png) > “While I am interested both in economics and in philosophy, the union of my interests in the two fields far exceeds their intersection.” [Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Economic and philosophical interests overlap, but their combined scope exceeds their direct overlap, enriching each field. **In simple terms:** Economics and philosophy together offer more than their intersection. Key Takeaway Integrate interdisciplinary thinking. Themes economics philosophy interdisciplinary Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type academic reflective When to use this quote - Academic research - public policy formulation Key Concepts human welfare ethical analysis policy design Questions to Reflect On - How can we bridge theory and practice? - What benefits arise from cross‑disciplinary study? A Different Perspective Interdisciplinary work can be hard to institutionalize. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Economics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economics/) [Economics Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economics-philosophy-2264460/) [Far Exceeds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/far-exceeds-922713/) [Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fields/) [Interested Economics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/interested-economics-2264459/) [Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy/) [Philosophy Union](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy-union-2264458/) [Two](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/two/) [Union Interests](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/union-interests-2264461/) ## Related quotes > [“Philosophy cannot be taught. Philosophy is the union of all acquired knowledge and the genius that applies it: philosophy is the shining cloud upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandre-dumas/philosophy-cannot-be-taught-philosophy-is-the-union-of-all-acquired/) [Alexandre Dumas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandre-dumas/) > [“Among college students, economics and philosophy majors have similar current incomes, but it’s the economics students who drive cars, because it’s the economics students…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-e-landsburg/among-college-students-economics-and-philosophy-majors-have-similar/) [Steven E. Landsburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-e-landsburg/) > [It will appear evident upon attentive consideration that equality of intellectual and physical advantages is the only sure foundation of liberty, and that such…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-will-appear-evident-upon-attentive-consideration-that-equality-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [That is why I believe that art is so much more significant than either economics or philosophy. It is the direct measure of man's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-read/that-is-why-i-believe-that-art-is-so-much-more-significant-than/) [Herbert Read](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-read/) > [“A man leads a dree life who's not i' th' Union. But once i' the' Union, his interests are taken care on better nor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gaskell/a-man-leads-a-dree-life-who-s-not-i-th-union-but-once-i-the-union-his/) [Elizabeth Gaskell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gaskell/) > [I've always been interested in the economics of reproduction, who gets what they want when it comes to childbearing and how these days, money…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-weiner/i-ve-always-been-interested-in-the-economics-of-reproduction-who-gets/) [Jennifer Weiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-weiner/) > [When individuals join in a cooperative venture, the power generated far exceeds what they could have accomplished acting individually.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-buckminster-fuller/when-individuals-join-in-a-cooperative-venture-the-power-generated/) [R. Buckminster Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-buckminster-fuller/) > [The pornography of violence of course far exceeds, in volume and general acceptance, sexual pornography, in this Puritan land of ours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/the-pornography-of-violence-of-course-far-exceeds-in-volume-and/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [Sex in space (Earth included) far exceeds our wildest imaginations, and is more than a big bang, that's for sure, it's cosmic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vanna-bonta/sex-in-space-earth-included-far-exceeds-our-wildest-imaginations-and/) [Vanna Bonta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vanna-bonta/) > [When, over fifty years ago, I first became interested in economics - as a discipline that provided the key to social structure and social…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-kuznets/when-over-fifty-years-ago-i-first-became-interested-in-economics-as-a/) [Simon Kuznets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-kuznets/) > [“The power of a leader’s words far exceeds the power of the leader’s budget.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-banther/the-power-of-a-leader-s-words-far-exceeds-the-power-of-the-leader-s/) [Barry Banther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-banther/) > [My job was to teach the whole corpus of economic theory, but there were two subjects in which I was especially interested, namely, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-meade/my-job-was-to-teach-the-whole-corpus-of-economic-theory-but-there/) [James Meade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-meade/) > [I had become interested in economics, an interest that was transformed into a lifetime dedication when I met with the mathematical theory of general…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-debreu/i-had-become-interested-in-economics-an-interest-that-was-transformed/) [Gerard Debreu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-debreu/) > [failure in the theater is more public, more brilliant, more unreal than in any other field.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/failure-in-the-theater-is-more-public-more-brilliant-more-unreal-than/) [Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/) > [A Light exists in Spring Not present on the Year At any other period - When March is scarcely here A Color stands abroad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/a-light-exists-in-spring-not-present-on-the-year-at-any-other-period/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) ## More by Amartya Sen > [Capability is just a concept of what is it we're looking at. Now how far we can go along that and what new capabilities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/capability-is-just-a-concept-of-what-is-it-we-re-looking-at-now-how/) [Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) > [Human life consists of doing certain things ... to take part in the life of the community; to be able to talk about subjects…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/human-life-consists-of-doing-certain-things-to-take-part-in-the-life/) [Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) > [“Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high; Where knowledge is free; Where the world has not been broken up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/where-the-mind-is-without-fear-and-the-head-is-held-high-where/) [Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) > [Violence is fomented by the imposition of singular and belligerent identities on gullible people, championed by proficient artisans of terror.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/violence-is-fomented-by-the-imposition-of-singular-and-belligerent/) [Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) > [I think the whole progress over the last two or three millennia has been entirely dependent on ideas and techniques and commodities and people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/i-think-the-whole-progress-over-the-last-two-or-three-millennia-has/) [Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) > [No famine has ever taken place in the history of the world in a functioning democracy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/no-famine-has-ever-taken-place-in-the-history-of-the-world-in-a/) [Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) > [To say that certainly America was very lucky to get a large amount of land, and the native Indians were extremely unlucky to have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/to-say-that-certainly-america-was-very-lucky-to-get-a-large-amount-of/) [Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) > [The lack of economic freedom could be a very major reason for loss of liberty, liberty of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/the-lack-of-economic-freedom-could-be-a-very-major-reason-for-loss-of/) [Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) > [We need to ask the moral questions: Do I have a right to be rich? And do I have a right to be content…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/we-need-to-ask-the-moral-questions-do-i-have-a-right-to-be-rich-and/) [Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) > [“He wrote extensively on how schools should be made more attractive to boys and girls and thus more productive. His own co-educational school at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/he-wrote-extensively-on-how-schools-should-be-made-more-attractive-to/) [Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) > [One has to be realistic. One’s concern for equity and justice in the world must not carry one into the alien territory of unreasoned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/one-has-to-be-realistic-one-s-concern-for-equity-and-justice-in-the/) [Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) > [I was born in a University campus and seem to have lived all my life in one campus or another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/i-was-born-in-a-university-campus-and-seem-to-have-lived-all-my-life/) [Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) > [If jobs are important, education is important.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/if-jobs-are-important-education-is-important/) [Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) > [Thailand's economic development was driven by educational expansion. That has been a very dramatic factor, and South Asia had been pretty miserable in not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/thailand-s-economic-development-was-driven-by-educational-expansion/) [Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) > [Progress is more plausibly judged by the reduction of deprivation than by the further enrichment of the opulent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/progress-is-more-plausibly-judged-by-the-reduction-of-deprivation/) [Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) [Explore all 162 Amartya Sen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) ## More Economics quotes > [Don't let's lose sight of what creates wealth. It is open markets, it is capitalism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupert-murdoch/don-t-let-s-lose-sight-of-what-creates-wealth-it-is-open-markets-it/) [Rupert Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupert-murdoch/) > [Crony capitalism is essentially a condition in which... public officials are giving favours to people in the private sector in payment of political favours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-greenspan/crony-capitalism-is-essentially-a-condition-in-which-public-officials/) [Alan Greenspan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-greenspan/) > [Our biggest challenge is to eliminate the popular perception that economists don't have anything useful to say.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-zandi/our-biggest-challenge-is-to-eliminate-the-popular-perception-that/) [Mark Zandi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-zandi/) > [Advances in technology will continue to reach far into every sector of our economy. Future job and economic growth in industry, defense, transportation, agriculture,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-bond/advances-in-technology-will-continue-to-reach-far-into-every-sector/) [Christopher Bond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-bond/) > [Our engagement through international economics, trade, these trade agreements, is vital and is linked to our national security. This is a lesson we learned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-boustany/our-engagement-through-international-economics-trade-these-trade/) [Charles Boustany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-boustany/) > [“The free-market economy and globalisation process have brought about, in the late twentieth and early twenty-first century, a sharp and sudden rise in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yaakov-malkin/the-free-market-economy-and-globalisation-process-have-brought-about/) [Yaakov Malkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yaakov-malkin/) > [“Everything economic science posits as given, that is, the range of dispositions of the economic agent which ground the illusion of the ahistorical universality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-bourdieu/everything-economic-science-posits-as-given-that-is-the-range-of/) [Pierre Bourdieu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-bourdieu/) > [Politics is about power. It is about the power of the state. It is about the power of the state as applied to individuals,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-rudd/politics-is-about-power-it-is-about-the-power-of-the-state-it-is/) [Kevin Rudd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-rudd/) > [Having an economy that works for the 99% is achievable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winnie-byanyima/having-an-economy-that-works-for-the-99-is-achievable/) [Winnie Byanyima](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winnie-byanyima/) > [“a select group of high-performing companies have managed to close the strategy-to-performance gap through better planning and execution. These companies—Barclays, Cisco Systems, Dow Chemical,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-c-mankins/a-select-group-of-high-performing-companies-have-managed-to-close-the/) [Michael C. Mankins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-c-mankins/) > [The system of private property is the most important guaranty of freedom, not only for those who own property, but scarcely less for those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/the-system-of-private-property-is-the-most-important-guaranty-of/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [Economists think about what people ought to do. Psychologists watch what they actually do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-kahneman/economists-think-about-what-people-ought-to-do-psychologists-watch/) [Daniel Kahneman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-kahneman/) > [The politician attempts to remedy the evil by increasing the very thing that caused the evil in the first place: legal plunder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/the-politician-attempts-to-remedy-the-evil-by-increasing-the-very/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [“Economists have a singular method of procedure. There are only two kinds of institutions for them, artificial and natural. The institutions of feudalism are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/economists-have-a-singular-method-of-procedure-there-are-only-two/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) > [As the variable capital always stays in the hands of the capitalist in some form or other, it cannot be claimed in any way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/as-the-variable-capital-always-stays-in-the-hands-of-the-capitalist/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) [Browse all 7,788 Economics quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economics/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "While I am interested both in economics and in philosophy, the union of my interests in the two fields far exceeds their intersection.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Amartya Sen" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/while-i-am-interested-both-in-economics-and-in-philosophy-the-union/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Economics" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/while-i-am-interested-both-in-economics-and-in-philosophy-the-union/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/34c/amartya-sen-2518_economics_while-i-am-interested-both-in-economics_221655.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/34c/amartya-sen-2518_economics_while-i-am-interested-both-in-economics_221655.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/34c/amartya-sen-2518_economics_while-i-am-interested-both-in-economics_221655.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“While I am interested both in economics and in philosophy, the union of my interests in the two fields far…” — Amartya Sen", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Amartya Sen", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "While I am interested both in...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/while-i-am-interested-both-in-economics-and-in-philosophy-the-union/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/while-i-am-interested-both-in-economics-and-in-philosophy-the-union/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```