How to Object to the Profit System (and How Not To)

Gregory J. Robson ()
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Gregory J. Robson: Iowa State University

Journal of Business Ethics, 2023, vol. 188, issue 2, No 1, 205-219

Abstract: Abstract This article introduces the Normative Representativeness Requirement (NRR) on any moral objection to a decentralized, profit-oriented system of political economy. I develop and defend the NRR and then show why the most important recent critique of the profit system—which I call The Moderate Critique (developed by, for instance, Elizabeth Anderson)—fails to meet the NRR. This article also defends the radical claim that no objection to the profit system itself, rather than just key aspects or salient instances of it, succeeds in meeting the NRR. Critics of the profit system should not seek an alternative to the profit system, but, at most, an alternative within it.

Keywords: Profitable business; Elizabeth Anderson; Worker domination; Capitalism; Worker exploitation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10551-022-05317-5

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