Between Markets, Politics, and Ethics: On Vendor Conscience and Impersonal Markets

Matthew Caulfield ()
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Matthew Caulfield: Fordham University

Journal of Business Ethics, 2023, vol. 188, issue 2, No 6, 307-326

Abstract: Abstract Business owners sometimes refuse to transact with certain customers on principle, given some normative (political, personal, moral, or religious) commitment which they hold. I call such refusals ‘conscientious refusals.’ Evaluating two possible positions on the permissibility of vendor conscientious refusals, I argue in favor of an impersonal market in which vendor conscientious refusals are generally not justified. I argue impersonal norms, which crowd out conscientious considerations, support pluralist, healthy markets from which we reap individual and communal benefits; further, impersonal markets buttress individual freedom by providing a distinctive sphere of activity characterized by norms of radical inclusivity. These considerations constitute a strong case that vendor conscientious refusals are ceteris paribus unjustified. I conclude by addressing several potential objections to this view.

Keywords: Market activism; Pluralism; Freedom (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1007/s10551-022-05323-7

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