Exploitation: What It Is and Why It's Wrong [1 ed.] 0742513661, 9780742513662

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Exploitation What It Is and Why It’s Wrong

Ruth J. Sample

Exploitation

Studies in Social, Political, and Legal Philosophy Series Editor:

James P. Sterba, University of Notre Dame

This series analyzes and evaluates critically the major political, social, and legal ideals, institutions, and practices of our time. The analysis may be historical or problem-centered; the evaluation may focus on theoretical underpinnings or practical implications. Among the recent titles in the series are:

Approximate Justice: Studies in Non-Ideal Theory by George Sher, Rice University Living in Integrity: A Global Ethic to Restore a Fragmented Earth by Laura Westra, University of Windsor Racist Symbols and Reparations: Philosophical Reflections on Vestiges of the American Civil War by George Schedler, Southern Illinois University Necessary Goods: Our Responsibilities to Meet Others’ Needs edited by Gillian Brock, University of Auckland The Business of Consumption: Environmental Ethics and the Global Economy edited by Laura Westra, University of Windsor, and Patricia H. Werhane, University of Virginia Child versus Childmaker: Present Duties and Future Persons in Ethics and the Law by Melinda A. Roberts, College of New Jersey Gewirth: Critical Essays on Action, Rationality, and Community edited by Michael Boylan, Marymount University The Idea of a Political Liberalism: Essays on Rawls edited by Victoria Davion and Clark Wolf, University of Georgia

Self-Management and the Crisis of Socialism: The Rose in the Fist of the Present by Michael W. Howard, University of Maine Ecofeminist Philosophy: A Western Perspective on What It Is and Why It Matters by Karen J. Warren, Macalester College Controversies in Feminism edited by James P. Sterba, University of Notre Dame

Exploitation: What It Is and Why It’s Wrong by Ruth J. Sample, University of New Hampshire

Exploitation

What It Is and Why It’s Wrong

RUTH J. SAMPLE

ROWMAN

& LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, Lanham ¢ Boulder * New York * Oxford

INC.

ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC. Published in the United States of America by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.

A Member of the Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706 www.rowmanlittlefield.com

PO Box 317 Oxford OX2 9RU, UK

Copyright © 2003 by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,

without the prior permission ofthe publisher.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Sample, Ruth J., 1964—

The badness of exploitation : a reformative account / Ruth J. Sample. p. cm. — (Studies in social, political, and legal philosophy) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7425-1366-1 (alk. paper) —ISBN 0-7425-1367-X (pbk. : al k. paper) 1. Exploitation. I. Title. II. Series.

BJ1474.5.S26 2003 179—dc21

2003046618

Printed in the United States of America TM

S) The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

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Contents

Acknowledgements

IX

Introduction

x1

1

The Badness of Exploitation Why Not a Market Approach?

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2

Exploitation and Vulnerability “Taking Advantage of an Unusual Situation”

27

3

What Is Bad about Exploitation? Exploitation, Degradation, and Human Flourishing

35

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Exploitation and the Family Accounting for Exploitation among Intimates

97

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Exploitation and Globalization Is Globalization Fundamentally Exploitative?

131

Bibliography

74

Index

181

About the Author

197

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Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2023 with funding from Kahle/Austin Foundation

https://archive.org/details/exploitationwhatO000samp

Acknowledgments Many people have helped to make this book possible. Chief among them is Jim Sterba, who encouraged me to develop my thinking on the subject of exploitation and social contract theory further. Alan Wertheimer and Robert Goodin were both kind enough to comment on an early draft of a portion of the manuscript, along with Paul MacNamara, David Boonin, and Jon Mandle. Audiences at conferences of the North American Society for Social Philosophy (NAASP), the American Philosophical Association, Feminist Ethics and Social Theory (FEAST), the Northern New England Philosophy Association, Plymouth State College, Smith College, and the University of New Hampshire provided me with much useful support and criticism. Critical commentary was provided by Bruce Landesman,

Paul Warren, and Nancy Snow.

For their intellectual and

personal support I owe a tremendous debt to Margaret Love Denman, Cathy Frierson, Anne Leader, Linda Radzick, Allison Rosen, Lisa Shapiro, Charlotte Witt, Naomi Zack, and the Department of Philosophy at the University of New Hampshire. Marc Herold pointed my research on globalization in a useful direction. Dean Marilyn Hoskin of the College of Liberal Arts at the University of New Hampshire helped to support my research with a Faculty Summer Research Fellowship. Eve DeVaro of Rowman & Littlefield patiently guided this project along, and Michael Harrup provided indispensable editorial help. Daniel Brannen completed the index. Finally, my husband Dean Rubine supported me in countless ways, perhaps most importantly by enduring the vicissitudes of my moods during the writing of this book.

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