tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5098030884495656852.post2651941988476902583..comments2023-12-29T00:20:29.844-08:00Comments on Logicology: Commerce as "Social Good"Sean W. Malonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07652434357640171842noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5098030884495656852.post-89386919601668032092011-02-14T21:22:57.325-08:002011-02-14T21:22:57.325-08:00You may have a point there... Certainly from a phi...You may have a point there... Certainly from a philosophical stand point I can say that on the basis of human life as a primary value, anything that is necessary for humanity to survive & thrive is by-definition a moral "good".<br /><br />At the very least, it <i>cannot</i> be considered an evil - as is unfortunately often done (especially by religious or Malthusian zealots).<br /><br />That said, I think its fair to call commerce a "social good" in the moral sense based on the fact that to succeed in commerce - at least to do so without government coercion on your side - you need to offer other people goods & services that they value. In other words, you must increase the wealth available in the world, and that by definition, makes human beings better off than they were before.<br /><br />If we cannot consider the improvement of the living conditions of man-kind a "social good", I'm not sure what we could at all.Sean W. Malonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07652434357640171842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5098030884495656852.post-78553504749751876362011-02-10T11:00:32.667-08:002011-02-10T11:00:32.667-08:00Somewhat related to your argument, where is the ph...Somewhat related to your argument, where is the philosophical argument that something _necessary_ (which, after a cursory reading, seems to be closer to what you're arguing than 'good') must be good.<br /><br />Death is necessary and inevitable.<br />Killing animals to eat is necessary.<br />Sometimes, killing in self-defense is necessary.<br />And so on, etc, etc.<br /><br />Calling something "good" or moral, I think, requires additional qualification beyond its necessity.<br /><br />Or, I could be wrong. If you know any economists (or more likely, philosophers) who address this issue, please bring them up! It could be a great blog post.zero referencehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05996128370825821029noreply@blogger.com