College of Business Administration

Seminar in Business and the Good Society

Discussion Questions for February 12, 1998:

Questions related to the film Lost Horizon

*Does Shangri-La represent a possible world?
Why do you think it is either possible or impossible?

*Were you a member of this lost party, would you respond more like Robert or George?
Why?

*In what ways does Lost Horizon fulfill the vision of a classic Utopian society?
In what ways is it different than such societies?

*What three things most give meaning or purpose to your life?

Questions related to B. Schwartz: The Battle for Human Nature

*On page 216 of his text, Schwartz argues:

One of the criticisms of economics developed in Chapter 6 was that what economists regard as eternal characteristics of human nature are actually rather recent historical developments, dependent on the existence of a market system that encouraged people to pursue their individual, economic interests. "Rational economic man" was an eighteenth-century invention, having little relation to how people actually behaved in societies prior to that time. Once invented, the economic man concept led to the formation of social practices and institutions that were consistent with it but that undermined previous forms of social organization. Thus, the economic man conception was a self-fulfilling one. First, one claims that deep down people are really such and such; then a world is created in which people can only survive if they act like they are such and such; sure enough, in that world, people become such and such deep down. Otherwise, they simply disappear.

Is self-interestedness a human characteristic acquired by nurture, or is it rather a matter of innate nature? What reasons can you offer in defense of your position?

*Schwartz claims that the notion of 'moral man' has given way to that of 'economic man.' As evidence of this phenomenon, consider the following excerpt from the October 26, 1992 issue of Business Week:

Gary S. Becker, who on Oct. 13 was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science... more than any other economist, has turned the spotlight of economic reasoning onto the decisions that individuals and families make in their personal lives. He starts with a basic economic approach that says people make rational choices to benefit themselves, and that those choices are strongly affected by the economic incentives they face. Then, he applies the model to families, marriage, education, and other topics of day-to-day existence..."No other economist has so broadened the range of economic analysis," says Milton Friedman...

As one example of such reasoning, Becker believes illicit drugs should be gradually legalized: 'This might increase drug use. But legalizing drugs would reduce crime and free police for more serious activities.' Describe the moral-theoretic framework upon which Becker is building his arguments. Do you agree that public policy prescriptions ought to be made without reference to explicitly 'moral' considerations? Why or why not?

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