The Myth of Social Justice and the Erosion of the Virtues of Commerce

Abstract

Economist Friedrich von Hayek’s 1976 critique of social justice as a dishonest term used to undermine individual freedoms is extended to argue that social justice also erodes basic human sentiments and the moral virtues that guide free market behavior. Moreover as demands for social justice replace individual choice, they also undermine the sentiment of fellow-feeling that grounds morality as well as the particular moral virtues of self-command, toughness, honesty, prudence, assiduity, industry, frugality, and parsimony that Adam Smith and others have shown to be necessary for advancing business ethics within free market systems.