ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses what might be regarded as the moral limits of markets. Many thinkers on both the Left and the Right of the political spectrum have argued that the capitalist system emerged from within an inherited moral tradition, which protected moral values from the adverse effects of self-interest. On a purely self-interested view of the morality of the market, attitudes could arise in relation to economic behaviour that actually damage the market. The chapter looks at a different set of moral boundaries which might be encapsulated in the idea that the market does have a clear sphere, but that equally there are spheres in which market relationships are inappropriate. Markets are essential to material prosperity, to adapting to changes in human circumstance, to creating new opportunities for human fulfilment. In the sphere of commodities and markets the goods in question are assumed to be a matter of individual choice and preference.
