Skip to content
Carmelics
TopicsThinkersChangesContributorsLoading account…

    Carmelics

    A reasoning platform. Break down any belief into clear reasons, explore both sides, and weigh the evidence honestly.

    Navigate

    • Topics
    • Search
    • Recent Changes
    • Contribute
    • How It Works
    • Glossary
    • Thinkers
    • Contributors
    • About
    • Statistics
    • Terms
    • Privacy

    Database

    Statements
    —
    Perspectives
    —
    Topics
    —

    Press ? for keyboard shortcuts

    LoyalLoyalJusticeJustice
    Made withinDC&Austin
    Statements
    321,452
    Perspectives
    108,905
    Topics
    42
    It is more promising to appeal to people's self-interest ... — Carmelics
    Home/Democracy & Governance
    HistoryEditSee Inverse

    It is more promising to appeal to people's self-interest through market exchange than to use state coercion as a means of organizing society.

    Democracy & GovernanceSocial Contract
    ?Rate how convincing each reason is below to see the overall strength.
    1 reason for
    2 reasons against

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
    ?
    • 1.Human beings make their own decisions and respond to circumstances, thwarting any systematic plans governments might lay out.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.Governments are generally incapable of knowing enough to guide large numbers of people.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.Government officials seek fame and power, believe themselves morally superior, and serve their own interests and those of well-connected businessmen rather than the public good.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reasons Against

    2 perspectives
    Reason against 1 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Market exchange systematically produces public goods deficits, externalities, and monopolies that self-interest alone cannot resolve.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.Rousseau and Rawls demonstrate that legitimate social order requires deliberate collective agreement, not merely the aggregation of private preferences.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.The claim conflates voluntary exchange with just outcomes, ignoring that markets reflect and entrench pre-existing distributions of power and property.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reason against 2 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Habermas and deliberative democrats show that coercion and market exchange are not exhaustive options; communicative rationality grounds a third path.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.State institutions, when democratically accountable, can embody collective self-authorship rather than mere external coercion imposed on individuals.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Sign in or register to share your perspective on this statement.

    Next step

    Based on where you are in your exploration

    Strongest counterpoint
    Explore the most compelling reason on the other side.

    Topics

    Democracy & GovernanceSocial Contract

    Connections

    5 topics

    Consequentialism1 linkedRights & Liberty1 linkedSkepticism1 linkedJustice & Punishment1 linkedMoral Responsibility1 linked

    Related

    Government officials seek fame and power, believe themselves morally superior, a...Governments are generally incapable of knowing enough to guide large numbers of ...Habermas and deliberative democrats show that coercion and market exchange are n...Human beings make their own decisions and respond to circumstances, thwarting an...
    +5 moreShow less
    Market exchange systematically produces public goods deficits, externalities, an...Rousseau and Rawls demonstrate that legitimate social order requires deliberate ...

    Similar

    The justification for state coercion must include a requirement that t...77%Locke's view that coercive power is merely a secondary feature of the ...72%The fact that a particular state coerces a person does not establish a...72%Federalism is a structural mechanism that allows self-government to co...72%

    Source

    AI-extracted1/3 agreementValid
    SEP: libertarianism
    View source passageHide passage
    None of this means that people don’t have obligations to assist others. Smith grounds his view in a deeply social view of moral psychology. Thus, benevolence along with justice is a pillar of society. However, we cannot expect or force people to care for distant strangers in the same way as they care for themselves. And trying to organize a society along these lines would lead to disaster. Smith was extremely skeptical about government officials, writing about how they seek fame and power, think
    Extraction notes

    Validity: Extracted via Max plan + API grounding/validity checks

    Details

    State institutions, when democratically accountable, can embody collective self-...
    The claim conflates voluntary exchange with just outcomes, ignoring that markets...
    We cannot expect or force people to care for distant strangers in the same way a...
    Type
    claim
    Perspectives
    3 (1 for, 2 against)
    Edits
    1 edit