From Business to a Just and Humane Society

Abstract

Chapter 5 completes the argument on honorable business by specifying a “hierarchy of moral value” linking the individual businessperson’s activities to the purpose of a firm within a properly functioning market economy that is itself part of a just and humane society. If these relationships have been correctly described, the individual businessperson should be able to give an account of his or her professional activities that connects them all the way up the chain of moral purpose to the kind of society in which we should all want to live. The chapter also looks at the increase in material prosperity the world has experienced since approximately 1800 and connects that prosperity to the “hierarchy of moral value.” The chapter considers the role of government and regulation in the creation of prosperity and explores the extent to which the present argument connects to ethical theories of deontology, utilitarianism, and virtue ethics.

Freedom, Markets and Moral Motivation: Towards a More Adequate Account of the Implicit Morality of the Market

“…The second is that in rejecting feudal social structures and taking responsibility for himself, the individual is not harming society, or better, in doing this, he is actually benefitting society. In this context, the notion of the ‘invisible hand’ (Hühn & Dierksmeier, 2016), or of markets as working towards mutual benefit (Otteson, 2019), is not merely an explanation of how society functions so much as a discourse of legitimation, a way for individuals to legitimize the pursuit of their own economic self-interest.…”

“…Thus, within this historical context, something like the efficiency imperatives can be understood as providing the principle or norm needed to govern the notion of freedom as self-authorship, distinguishing liberty from license and overcoming the threat of particularist willing (Korsgaard, 2009). Freedom in a market context is, thus, the pursuit of financial gain, one’s own self-interest, in a way that generally benefits society and avoids harm (Otteson, 2019).…”

“…Self-authorship is not only a mode of freedom but also a distinct mode of legitimation, a way of justifying one's freedom. Markets also make this mode of justification possible, allowing one to explain why it is good and right that one is free insofar as one's pursuit of economic objectives leads, as well, to beneficial outcomes for oneself and others (Otteson, 2019). This focus on mutual benefit as a mode of justification for economic agency highlights the direct connection between freedom as self-authorship and an 'implicit morality of the market'.…”

Creación de valor, florecimiento y virtudes humanas

“…En los términos de Otteson (2019), ese cambio implica la institucionalización de una mirada positiva de los negocios honorables donde las personas se benefician mutuamente (y una mirada negativa hacia los que se benefician a expensas de los demás). En términos similares, Smith (1776Smith ( /1981) entiende que, en una sociedad bien gobernada, sus miembros son mutuamente sirvientes unos de otros.…”

“…Las instituciones que habilitaron la creación de valor y el florecimiento humano pueden identificarse con las reglas formales e informales propias de la sociedad abierta. Quizás, lo que Otteson (2019) denomina las tres «p» de la justicia según Adam Smith sirvan para sintetizar esas reglas. Smith (1759 considera que la sociedad avanza cuando se respetan y protegen la vida (person), la propiedad (property) y los contratos (promise).…”