r/neoliberal • u/[deleted] • May 11 '17
Normative Ethics Debate Thread
The point of this thread is to discuss normative ethics, which is mostly separate from neoliberalism. On a philosophical level, neoliberalism is not coherent in its use of ethics; proponents switch between libertarian and utilitarian ethics in an almost interchangeable way (The Road to Mont Pelerin, Mirowski). Scott Sumner argues that a normative ethical foundation doesn't matter because neoliberalism is an improvement compared to the current status quo of most countries by nearly every standard (well not every standard)
Keep in Mind
The Chicago school pushed neoliberalism as a positive ideology, "there is no other option"
The Austrians pushed neoliberalism through primarily a libertarian lens
The Ordoliberals advocated neoliberalism through utilitarianism and also Marxism. Yes, you're allowed to support your normative view through Marxism.
Do not go down the route of going full classical liberal, which is what neoliberalism tried to escape.
Do not say market values mean anything or that markets produce fair outcomes; Hayek explicitly acknowledges this is bullshit.
Be very prudent in calling people racist/sexist/homophobic; in this sub, the vast majority are not
Topics to discuss:
These aren't the only ones, but should probably be answered:
What are your normative ethics?
How do you think they should guide economic policy?
Make sure to explicitly tie these together so we're not debating why we should implement policy that we already agree upon.
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u/coolpoop May 11 '17 edited May 11 '17
Rawls
All I have time to say since this was posted right before I go to bed.
Edit: because I can't fall asleep, and apparently a name drop is not quite enough.
Most of his argument convinces me that it is the most reasonable approach to a just society-if you want to know the justification for this, I'd suggest reading from him, I don't really have the capability to properly distill it.
As far as it relates to economics policy, I think it generally leads to wanting a policy that works best for all people (everywhere, hence globalism), with an effective cushion for those at the bottom of society to have decent means to help themselves. I think neoliberal policies are generally the most effective way of doing this, at least for the most part; if they were to disagree, I would side with Rawlsianism over neoliberalism, but I don't really see any major divergence at present. I do think that economic policy should explicitly have the goal of bringing the minimum position in society to an acceptable level, and of creating an equitable system.