Exploitation

by Alan Wertheimer

What is the basis for arguing that a volunteer army exploits citizens who lack civilian career opportunities? How do we determine that a doctor who has sex with his patients is exploiting them? In this book, Alan Wertheimer seeks to identify when a transaction or relationship can be properly regarded as exploitative--and not oppressive, manipulative, or morally deficient in some other way--and explores the moral weight of taking unfair advantage. Among the first political philosophers to examine this important topic from a non-Marxist perspective, Wertheimer writes about ordinary experience in an accessible yet philosophically penetrating way. He considers whether it is seriously wrong for a party to exploit another if the transaction is consensual and mutually advantageous, whether society can justifiably prohibit people from entering into such a transaction, and whether it is wrong to allow oneself to be exploited.


Wertheimer first considers several contexts commonly characterized as exploitive, including surrogate motherhood, unconscionable contracts, the exploitation of student athletes, and sexual exploitation in psychotherapy. In a section outlining his theory of exploitation, he sets forth the criteria for a fair transaction and the point at which we can properly say that a party has consented. Whereas many discussions of exploitation have dealt primarily with cases in which one party harms or coerces another, Wertheimer's book focuses on what makes a mutually advantageous and consensual transaction exploitive and analyzes the moral and legal implications of such exploitation.

Genres: Philosophy

336 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1996

Reviews

[Tom · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is perhaps the main treatment of exploitation by a mainstream academic philosopher. The book doesn't focus much on economic or labor exploitation but on things like exploitation of patients by therapists, exploitation of college athletes, etc. When he does treat of economic exploitation, he has some rather abusrd things to say. He confuses coercion with force. Thus a worker who is desperate and takes a job offer isn't coerced by the employer, but nonetheless she could say she was forced to take the job. He says that a person who gets their "reservation price" for something has an equality of bargaining power with the buyer. Reservation price is the lowest price you'd willingly agree to. So if you don't get your reservation price, you were probably coerced. What follows is that if you take a job from some gigantic corporation, you and that corporation have equal bargaining power -- a completely idiotic conclusion.

Nonetheless, the book is worthwhile for its introductory discussion of the elements that make up exploitation. However, i'd skip the book and read his shorter treatment on the website of the Stanford University Encyclopedia of Philosophy. He does have some arguments that seem correct to me -- he argues there can be consensual mutually advantageous exploitation -- in fact this is what the capitalist labor market is.

[Vegetarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first thought would be that this author has moved beyond analyzing these issues as a Marxist and is doing something different with the same topic without undermining the deep and profound commitment to social justice and organizational and economic equity and fairness broadly understood.