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3-11.pptxBusiness Ethics Summer 2022 (1) Week 3, Lecture 1
Chaeyoung Paek
In Week 3…
In the last lecture of Week 2, we’ve seen how Duska argues for the possibility of business ethics.
He claims that business ethics is possible but only under the following two conditions:
we grasp the true purpose of business as a society; and
we build a fair and just system that promotes that true purpose of business.
But to satisfy (1) & (2), we need to understand the current ethical issues in business better; and that’s what we’ll do from now on!
In Week 3…
This week, we’ll see whether current businesses are commodifying things that should not be commodified.
As an introduction to this topic, we’ll look at what Michael Sandel says about this issue.
Then in the next two classes, we’ll look at…
Anderson’s view on the ethical limitations on what could be commodified, then
as a case study, what Anderson says about ethical implications of commodifying women’s labor.
In today’s class…
We’ll look at what Michael Sandel has to say about commodifying things, based on an excerpt from Michael Sandel’s book, What Money Can’t Buy.
There will be an in-class activity almost at the end of today’s lecture.
Commodity
X is a commodity if and only if X can be sold or bought in the market.
Some obvious examples of commodities
: grocery items / furniture / laptops / cars / parking spots…
Some less obvious examples of commodities:
The right to shoot an endangered animal
- The right to emit a metric ton of carbon into the atmosphere
Q. Nowadays, almost everything is up for sale; but what is so wrong about that?
Why shouldn’t we commodify (almost) everything?
(Sandel) For two reasons:
It promotes inequality.
If being wealthy only allows you to buy luxury items, then wealth wouldn’t mean so much.
But if you can buy something that really matters with money, being wealthy makes all the difference in your life.
(ex) Political influence / Good medical care / Access to elite schools / Safe environment
In a society where everything is up for sale, the quality of life one can enjoy would depend on wealth; and the gap between the rich and the poor would grow larger.
Why shouldn’t we commodify (almost) everything?
2. It corrupts the things that are commodified.
Putting a price on the precious things in life can corrupt them.
When something is being commodified, it doesn’t just mean that it is now up for sale; the market demands you to take a certain attitude towards commodities.
(ex) Paying kids to read books
May provide incentives to read more books
…But kids may fail to learn how to enjoy reading itself!
Why shouldn’t we commodify (almost) everything?
Many economists assume that the market does not affect the goods it exchanges; the market merely puts price tags on them.
Sandel says this assumption is false.
When we decide to put a price on certain things and start buying and selling them, we treat them as things we use or from which we profit.
But certain things are valuable not because we can use or gain profit from them!
If we commodify such things, then we end up corrupting or de-valuing them.
Why shouldn’t we commodify (almost) everything?
Sandel’s argument against commodifying everything:
P1. When we commodify X, we treat X as an object of use and profit.
P2. There are things that should not be treated as objects of use and profit.
C. It is not permissible to commodify all things.
Q. So, what are the things that should not be treated as mere objects of use and profit?
Exercise: What do you think should not be commodified?
Click ”3-1 In-class Activity” below the lecture video.
Click “Write Submission”; fill in your answers & click “Submit.”
This should take about 5 minutes, but feel free to take more/less time as needed.
Defense of Ethical Limitations on Market
So, Sandel argues that there must be some moral limits on what can be commodified.
He points out that there are a few moral limits on what can be exchanged on the market.
(ex) Parents selling their children/Citizens selling their votes
Elizabeth Anderson defends a similar view, but with more details; we’ll look into her view in the following two classes!
For the next class…
Read Anderson, “The Ethical Limitations of the Market.”
