e goals appropriately. Pitkin writes, 'From this perspective, to say that we are political animals is to say that we have the power to take charge of the forces which shape and limit us, and that our full development as human beings depends on our exercising that power.' (17)
The public forms of action and freedom receive less attention than they should in much liberal thought, because liberalism from its beginnings has stressed both the right of people to live private lives of their choosing and the obligation of the state to provide security for that right. The individual has most often come first in liberal argument; participation in public life has been of secondary importance and it has not always been taken as a duty. To be sure, there have been theorists arguing for the importance of political participation throughout the modern liberal era, but theirs has been a minority voice. (18) Our concern here, however, is not with political participation, but with public action within and with respect to the market. For that reason, it is important to note Arendt's point that public action is not the same as government action. People can act publicly along side, in opposition to, or independent of government.
As I have remarked, government plays an important role in the market today through regulation. Nevertheless, government cannot be relied upon exclusively to introduce nonmarket standards or ideals into business. Government regulation tends to be reactive, limited in scope due to expense, and influenced by those who are to be regulated. The best source of regulation is business itself. That is, the best option is for business people themselves to take public action concerning questions of safety, truthfulness in advertising, fairness in employment, and so forth. Business people are on the scene, know what is happening, can predict what could result from their products and practices. (19) The call for 'social responsibility' among businesspersons is another way of saying that they should take action so as to make the market genuinely public.
A truly public market must serve a public good, otherwise it will be pernicious through its effect upon many people. Paul Camenisch proposes, 'Society has no need for profit-making as such. But rather, societies generate, encourage and sustain business because societies need the available raw materials transformed into needed goods and services, and because business in its contemporary form has been conspicuously successful at doing just that.' (20) That is, business is important to society not because it makes profits, but because it earns them through making needed goods and services. When the market helps turn business toward beneficial pursuits, well and good. When the market does not do so, for example, when it encourages a short-term outlook due to stock speculation, the market needs purposeful curbing. (21) Business people and consumers alike must be aware of what they are doing and supporting. Business might not appear to be anything like public action as it is generally understood; nevertheless, it is an activity that needs to be consciously integrated into our comprehension and augmentation of our public world. (22)
One hint of what a more public market might mean is suggested by the practice of professionals. The term 'professional' is honorific in our society. It indicates agents who skillfully perform a 'practice,' a ser
本论文由英语论文网提供整理,提供论文代写,英语论文代写,代写论文,代写英语论文,代写留学生论文,代写英文论文,留学生论文代写相关核心关键词搜索。