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What you've described is a production possibilities curve (or 'frontier') and I can't imagine how it relates to morality- free market capitalism is largely disdainful of morality. Put another way, what we should produce (at any given point on the ppc) is determined by market forces. Unless you want to label the fluctuation of prices and demand 'good' and 'evil' then I don't really know where you're going with this.

Originally posted by Red Nemesis
What you've described is a production possibilities curve (or 'frontier') and I can't imagine how it relates to morality- free market capitalism is largely disdainful of morality. Put another way, what we should produce (at any given point on the ppc) is determined by market forces. Unless you want to label the fluctuation of prices and demand 'good' and 'evil' then I don't really know where you're going with this.

We can comprehend only what we are prepared to comprehend.

Unless you'd like to moralize the law of increasing costs and the tendency of marginal benefits to decrease then you're just blowing smoke.

Why don't you explain the quote that you posted in greater detail? What do you (does John Rawls) mean by 'The determining of ends'? As far as I know those ends are determined by market factors, not morals.

Originally posted by Red Nemesis
Unless you'd like to moralize the law of increasing costs and the tendency of marginal benefits to decrease then you're just blowing smoke.

Why don't you explain the quote that you posted in greater detail? What do you (does John Rawls) mean by 'The determining of ends'? As far as I know those ends are determined by market factors, not morals.

When President Bush told his military to invade Iraq they then proceded to determine what was the best means to accomplish that end. This is called instrumental reasoning. The goal, to invade Iraq, was for unknown reasons but the stated reasons were the presence of WMDs.

When I was young I decided my goal was to become an engineer. To achieve that goal my means consisted of first going into the Army to get the GI Bill and then I went to college on that GI Bill.

Morality is about relationships The goal of morality is to develop relationships that will at least not lead to war and violence. You can see that morality has often failed.

Originally posted by Red Nemesis
What you've described is a production possibilities curve (or 'frontier') and I can't imagine how it relates to morality- free market capitalism is largely disdainful of morality. Put another way, what we should produce (at any given point on the ppc) is determined by market forces. Unless you want to label the fluctuation of prices and demand 'good' and 'evil' then I don't really know where you're going with this.

Well some form of morality will likely always exist. In the free market a moral person would worship at the altar of Adam Smith.

Originally posted by coberst

Morality is about relationships The goal of morality is to develop relationships that will at least not lead to war and violence. You can see that morality has often failed.

This is false. Not all moral systems are devoted to peace: many are more concerned with the 'soul' and 'purity' than with earthly affairs of any kind. This doesn't explain (at all) why or how morality is involved in economics, though.



Being right about how systems function (Capitalism) doesn't mean that one is worthy of worship.

If your point is that people will always worship something then I'll have to ask if you think that the present religions will survive or if there will simply be new religions born. (It is telling of the level of cynicism I'm dealing with here. You're clearly not Christian but do you think that the status quo will be maintained?)