Sandel’s THE MORAL LIMITS OF MARKETS

 

Use the uploaded file as source and answer these questions. Sandel explains that over the last few decades a market and consumer logic has

come to penetrate every area of contemporary social and political life; accordingly, what is the meaning of the distinction he makes

between a ‘market economy’ versus a ‘market society’? Why does Sandel think that by making markets the ultimate arbiter of values in

society, our capacity for a genuine public attitude and decision-making is corrupted? Use examples from the specific chapter you read to

underline why he takes a purely private consumer attitude to social and political decision-making to be destructive of public life. Do you

agree with Sandel that there are things money should not be able to buy? Would you agree that our societies, by making money the measure of

all things, are increasingly corrupted? If so, what areas of life do you think should be decided upon primarily through public discourse

rather than private consumption? If you disagree with Sandel, how would you counter his arguments? Can the market bring us to the public

good by itself, or can it do its job in a socially beneficial manner only within a public understanding of the good, defined without it?

 

READ ALSO :   Ethics