ABSTRACT
In Chapter 1 we distinguished three purposes of this book. In the preceding chapters of Part I we have dealt with the first purpose, namely to study the methodological strategy of economics and the criticism on the core assumptions about the human nature that underlie the economic defense of free market operation. In Part II, we deal with the second purpose of the book, namely to study several ethical theories (utilitarianism, duty and rights ethics, justice and virtue and care ethics) that can be used to evaluate the free market from different normative values. When anti-globalists criticize the project of international organizations like the WTO to liberalize the world economy and foster the operation of free perfect markets, a lack of efficiency created by the abundance of market imperfections is not their main problem. Rather, the main reason is that the market does not sufficiently meet other ethical standards than the Pareto or efficiency criterion on which economics is based. Part II gives an introduction into several of these ethical standards. Whereas Part I already touched on some of these ethical standards – like the role of social preferences and the relationship between welfare and happiness – it primarily discussed these issues in the context of the economic framework based on the value of (Pareto) efficiency. Part II will offer a broader philosophical perspective by relating these subjects to ethics and the philosophical approaches of liberalism and communitarism.
