Open AccessA Crossroads, Not an Island: A Response to Hanoch Dagan
Author(s) -
Zoë Hitzig,
E. Glen Weyl
Publication year - 2019
Language(s) - English
DOI - 10.36644/mlr.online.117.crossroads
Subject(s) - flourishing , autonomy , agency (philosophy) , value (mathematics) , identity (music) , sociology , environmental ethics , social identity theory , set (abstract data type) , social psychology , epistemology , social science , political science , aesthetics , law , social group , psychology , philosophy , machine learning , computer science , programming language
Hanoch Dagan critiques Radical Markets for insufficient attention to the value of autonomy. While most of his concrete disagreements result from miscommunications, he appears sympathetic to a theory of autonomy that is more widespread, and deserves response. Human agency is fundamentally social, and individuality is primarily constituted by the unique set of social connections and identities one adopts. In this sense, flourishing individuals are crossroads of different communities, not self-sufficient islands. Beyond any welfarist benefits, a fundamental value of Radical Markets is that they aim to instantiate the social nature of identity and empower agency through diverse community.