Knowledge and belief: the immorality of capitalism – inaugural lecture from Professor Bob Brecher
Published 25 March 2011
Event 19 May 2011
It's important in everyday life to be able to tell the difference between what we merely believe, or what we think we know, and what we really know. Otherwise we might, for instance, miss the train, be late for an appointment or get a terrible shock after we die.
And because it's so important in everyday life, it's also one of the central questions of philosophy – and in particular, of moral and political philosophy, both of which deal with everyday life. So a central question that all of us have to deal with sooner or later is this: are our moral and political convictions only beliefs, or can we actually know that anything is right or wrong? I think it's something we genuinely can know, that morality and politics aren't just a matter of what different people happen to believe; if you like, that right and wrong are objective. In particular, I want to suggest that we do indeed know at least one moral truth: namely that we should "Act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, always at the same time as an end and never merely as a means to an end" (Kant). How could anyone deny Kant’s dictum?
Having established that, I propose to consider an example – capitalism. Capitalism is all about treating each other merely as means to ends; it in fact demands that this is what we do, and this is enshrined in company law. And so, since that’s wrong, we know that capitalism is immoral — just because it requires us to treat others as merely means to ends.
Knowledge and belief: the immorality of capitalism
Bob Brecher
Professor of Moral Philosophy
Thursday 19 May 2011 at 6.30pm
Asa Briggs Hall
Checkland Building
University of Brighton
Falmer
Brighton BN1 9PH
Light refreshments will be served after the lecture. All welcome.
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