Elizabeth Anderson offers a new theory of value and rationality that rejects cost-benefit analysis in our social lives and in our ethical theories. This account of the plurality of values thus offers a new approach, beyond welfare economics and traditional theories of justice, for assessing the ethical limitations of the market. In this light, Anderson discusses several contemporary controversies involving the proper scope of the market, including commercial surrogate motherhood, privatization of public services, and the application of cost-benefit analysis to issues of environmental protection.

About the Author
Elizabeth Anderson is John Dewey Distinguished University Professor of Philosophy and Women's Studies; John Rawls Collegiate Professor; and Arthur F. Thurnau Professor at the University of Michigan.

Reviews
Anderson is anxious to combat what she sees as a tendency for commercial values to invade areas of human life where they do not belong... A useful contribution to debate about the proper scope of the market. -- Hugo Dixon * Financial Times *
Not everything is a commodity, insists Anderson, and her brief should shake up social science technocrats. * Philadelphia Inquirer *
The book is rich in both argument and application. -- Alan Hamlin * Times Higher Education Supplement *
In this rich and insightful book Elizabeth Anderson develops an original account of value and rational action and then employs this account to address the pragmatic political question of what the proper range of the market should be. Anderson's principal targets are consequentialism, monism and the crude 'economistic' reasoning which underpins much contemporary social policy... This is an important book... For anyone interested in political philosophy this is essential reading. -- A. J. Walsh * Australasian Journal of Philosophy *



Book Information
ISBN 9780674931909
Author Elizabeth Anderson
Format Paperback
Page Count 262
Imprint Harvard University Press
Publisher Harvard University Press
Weight(grams) 372g