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HomeUpcoming EventsMoney, Markets & Meaning – The Ethics of Commodification
Money, Markets & Meaning – The Ethics of Commodification

Photo by Kenny Eliason on Unsplash

A common argument in debates about commodification is that it is impermissible to buy and sell certain goods because to do so would violate their meaning or express an attitude towards them that does not show appropriate respect or reverence. Jason Brennan & Peter Jaworski call these semiotic objections to commodification. In their 2016 book Markets with Limits, they argue that semiotic objections are unsound. They claim that (1) the meaning of money and market exchange is culturally contingent and (2) codes of semiotics towards market exchange should be judged according to their consequences. I critically evaluate both premises of their argument to defend semiotic objections to commodification. I then argue that Brennan & Jaworski’s treatment of semiotic objections reveals broader issues in their strategy for defending commodification which are illuminating for debates about the moral limits of markets.

Date & time

  • Tue 18 Apr 2023, 3:00 pm - 4:30 pm

Location

RSSS Building, Room 6.71

Speakers

  • Ned Lis-Clarke

Event Series

Philsoc seminars

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  •  Theo Murray
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