ABSTRACT
A general consideration that is often offered in defence of the market economy is that it runs with the grain of human nature. It is an order that is able to work successfully given individuals who are ‘self-interested’, ‘egoistic’, or at least who are of ‘limited altruism’. Social institutions should be ideally designed on the assumption that this is so, either because it is so-that is what humans are like-or because, even if it is not, it is best we assume the worst. Alternative arrangements of the kind that socialists have traditionally defended make unrealistic demands on the altruism of agents. They require self-sacrificial behaviour on the part of individuals that cannot be realistically met. The consequence is that they fail to meet the needs and aspirations of individuals. In contrast while markets proceed on the assumption of egoistic agents, they produce outcomes that can be defended from the standpoint of the impartial altruist.
