Abstract
The social benefits derived from competitive markets certainly depend upon participants conforming to generally accepted notions of moral duty. These notions include perfect duties such as those against fraud, deception and coercion, and also imperfect duties such as those that favor beneficence but with practical limits. These duties are examined here where product, capital and internal labor markets are shown to be capable of imposing conformance through both formal and informally-organized boycotts. A categorization of classic and recent boycotts into those motivated by (i) sympathy for the suffering of others, and (ii) outrage over violations of generally accepted social norms is provided. It is argued that the former motivation seeks to establish new norms, and the latter seeks to enforce existing norms. Through this exploration, a resolution of the so called “Adam Smith problem” concerning the morality of the invisible hand is offered.
Based on Robinson (2018).
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Notes
- 1.
Notions of “efficient allocation of resources” and “public welfare” as used here stem from the extensive subject of welfare economics. See Henderson and Quandt (1958) for a review of its historical development.
- 2.
- 3.
Sullivan’s (1996, p. 29) interpretations from the German are used here.
- 4.
In Kant’s analysis, this non-impingement of the freedom of others to pursue their own ends is termed the universal principle of justice. See Chapter 2.
- 5.
Coercion is defined as an application of some type of force that prevents someone from making a decision or acting upon some decision.
- 6.
- 7.
- 8.
“Chapter 3: The Categorical Imperative Process and Moral Duties” presents a full description of the CIP.
- 9.
Kant called the UPJ the “universal principle of right,” but because today’s interpretation of “right” connotes a different meaning than Kant’s, the term “justice” is commonly used as a more accurate substitute. See Sullivan (1997, p. 11–13); White (2011, p. 122-123); and in the original, Kant (1797, p. 230).
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Advanced Readings in the “Adam Smith Problem” and the Linkage Between Morality and “The Invisible Hand”
James Otteson (2011, 2002) – see the bibliography above – presents an in-depth exploration of “the Adam Smith problem” and also the linkage between “the invisible hand theory” of The Wealth of Nations and Smith’s Theory of Moral Sentiments.
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Robinson, R.M. (2022). Chapter 12: Duty, Boycotts and the Pricing of Ethics. In: Business Ethics: Kant, Virtue, and the Nexus of Duty. Springer Texts in Business and Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85997-8_12
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