Prohibition on Selling Votes as a Market Limitation

Michael Sandel's TED Talk on the Moral Limits of Markets in Civic Life

Analyzing a Market for Civic Duties

Evaluating a Market for Civic Procedures

A society is debating two new proposals. Proposal A would allow a paid service where individuals can hire someone to wait in line for them at a government office (e.g., to renew a driver's license). Proposal B would allow citizens to legally hire a substitute to perform their mandatory jury duty. From the perspective that markets have moral limits, why is Proposal B a more significant ethical problem than Proposal A?

Match each example of a potential market transaction with the core societal value it would most likely corrupt or undermine, according to the philosophical view that markets have moral limits.

According to the philosophical argument that some goods and services should not be for sale, the primary reason for this restriction is to correct for market failures and improve economic efficiency.

The Corruption Argument

Evaluating a Market for Personal Apologies

According to the philosophical view on the moral limits of markets, the primary objection to commodifying certain goods and social practices is not just that it creates unequal access, but that the act of buying and selling changes their essential character and degrades their intrinsic meaning. This specific objection is known as the __________ argument.

Evaluating Arguments Against a Market for University Admissions

Constructing an Argument for a Market Limitation

Prohibition of Slavery as a Market Limitation