Muddy Markets and Dirty Hands

We would like to invite you to a lecture by Professor Benjamin Hale (University of Colorado – Bolder), a guest of the Instytut Filozofii Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego as part of the IDUB ‘Visiting Professors’ programme. The lecture, entitled “Muddy Markets and Dirty Hands: Individual Environmental Action in a Globalized World”, will take place on 9 June 2025 at 13.15-14.45 in room 240 of the Institute of Philosophy and Institute of Sociology building.

Abstract:

Many people argue that individual actors can and should respond to social and environmental problems by making ethical or conscientious decisions in the marketplace. They encourage consumers to purchase fair trade coffee, buy locally-grown produce, avoid shopping in stores with union-busting tactics, boycott exploitative soda manufacturers, and so on. In past work I have argued both that markets beget a peculiar form of causal impotence (meaning that an individual consumer’s actions are inefficacious in bringing about the desired ends) and that individual moral responsibilities are too diffuse to be meaningful. But what about dirty hands? There are other compelling arguments and moral systems that suggest that one ought not to bind oneself up in morally vicious or corrupt industries (as it is damaging to one’s character). The question remains: given the indeterminate nature of individual actions in widely networked global markets, is there some sense to be made of the claim that selective participation in markets is a pathway to avoid moral marring?