tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6642011.post1376351546847465212..comments2023-10-29T10:32:36.914-04:00Comments on Philosophy, et cetera: In Praise of Price GougingRichard Y Chappellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16725218276285291235noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6642011.post-77273005996682122192008-03-02T02:37:00.000-05:002008-03-02T02:37:00.000-05:00If greed is by definition "excessive concern for o...If greed is by definition "excessive concern for one's own wealth" for it to be excessive that marginal increase in that concern must be morally an issue. Surely that excludes the possibility of "perfectly" decent.<BR/>Of course they don't have to be perfectly evil.Geniushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11624496692217466430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6642011.post-9512638675292949772008-03-01T21:05:00.000-05:002008-03-01T21:05:00.000-05:00But it isn't a sign of "excessive" wealth-seeking,...But it <I>isn't</I> a sign of "excessive" wealth-seeking, unless it is crowding out all other reasons. If the price gouger is partly acting from a recognition that higher prices may be expected to allocate the scarce good more efficiently (and wouldn't do it otherwise), then that seems perfectly decent of them.Richard Y Chappellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16725218276285291235noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6642011.post-55606716279457052522008-03-01T20:58:00.000-05:002008-03-01T20:58:00.000-05:00Hmmm.... One could say price gouging - whenever gr...Hmmm.... <BR/>One could say price gouging - whenever greed is a component of the decision making - is a sign of bad character because it is a sign that you have in your character the bad attribute of 'greed' (regardless of any other reason).Geniushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11624496692217466430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6642011.post-9746734366278158192008-03-01T18:24:00.000-05:002008-03-01T18:24:00.000-05:00Well, self-sacrificing behaviour may be unhelpful,...Well, self-sacrificing behaviour may be unhelpful, but even the most competitive wealth-seekers had better abide by some moral constraints (e.g. not to defraud or coerce others, etc.).<BR/><BR/>Now, I'd agree that seeking wealth (if that's what you mean by 'greed') is, in itself, a good thing, or at least not bad. But I would define 'greed' as an <I>excessive</I> concern for one's own wealth, and so a deficiency in one's concern for how this may impact others, which I think is unquestionably a vice. It doesn't come up in everyday market transactions (excepting fraud, etc.), since there's no reason to think that one's own wealth-seeking is going to harm others. But if you think of a so-called "easy rescue case", say where a ship's captain happens across a drowning swimmer, it would be an immoral exercise of greed to only rescue them on condition that they sign over all their worldly assets.<BR/><BR/>Now, in cases of selling scarce goods to disaster victims, it may be that one is acting from similarly callous/greedy motives, but in fact there are good efficiency reasons to objectively justify the price hikes (which the agent neither knows nor cares about). In such a case, I'd say the act is <A HREF="http://www.philosophyetc.net/2007/12/intention-and-impermissibility.html" REL="nofollow">permissible</A>, but the agent vicious.Richard Y Chappellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16725218276285291235noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6642011.post-21343297058363489522008-03-01T18:02:00.000-05:002008-03-01T18:02:00.000-05:00quite a bit of legitimate economic activity is bas...quite a bit of legitimate economic activity is based on 'greed'. Some might argue moral people generally don't make good participatants in a market.Geniushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11624496692217466430noreply@blogger.com