Freedom, Markets, and Voluntary Exchange
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3330135 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Larry M Preston (Northern Arizona University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1984 |
| Volume | 78 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 959-970 |
| Publication date | 1984-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Political Science Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0003-0554 • E-ISSN: 1537-5943 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/1955801 |
| OpenAlex | W2322670032 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 7 |
| References cited | 33 |
A capitalist market system of social exchange is justified primarily because it protects individual freedom. This system, its advocates claim, achieves the complex task of production and distribution through a process of voluntary exchanges; coordination is effectively achieved without coercion. I argue that this claim is largely unwarranted. The negative concept of freedom that underlies voluntary choice (the absence of interference by others) is unable to differentiate between instances of freedom and unfreedom. As a result, it is not possible to determine whether exchanges are voluntary or coerced. A more adequate conception of free choice (as the relevant capacities and conditions for deliberate decisions and actions) suggests that a capitalist market broadly and systematically denies the possibility of voluntary agreements. This general failure to protect individuals' freedom is examined in relation to the acquisition of property, the transfer of property, and the process of production
Business · Coercion (linguistics · Economics · Epistemology · Freedom of choice · Law and economics · Market economy · Microeconomics · Process (computing · Production (economics · Property (philosophy · Property rights · Relation (database · Task (project management · Turnover · Computer Science · Economic Theory and Institutions · Political Economy and Marxism
Voluntary action in International Relations
Whose interests? Which solidarity? Challenges of developing a European Super League
Coercion, voluntary exchange, and the Austrian School of Economics
Equality and efficiency
Freedom and Bureaucracy
Political Science and the Study of Corporate Power
Freedom, Recognition, and Obligation
Democratic theory
Anarchy, State, and Utopia
The symbolic uses of politics
Capitalism and Freedom
Two Concepts of Liberty
Freedom of the Will and the Concept of a Person
The Theory Of Social And Economic Organization
The Nature of the Transnational Firm
The Calculus of Consent
The Highly Productive Thermothelomyces heterothallica C1 Expression System as a Host for Rapid Development of Influenza Vaccines
Anarchy, State, and Utopia
Iv.—freewill and Moral Responsibility
Labor and Monopoly Capital
Hegel and Modern Society
Hegel and Modern Society
Liberty in the Modern State
Negative and Positive Freedom
Alienation, Freedom, and Economic Organization
The Nature of the Firm
Actions, Reasons, and Causes
Individual & Political Freedom
Freedom and Authority
Degrees of Power and Freedom
An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations
The Social Relations of Production in The Firm and Labor Market Structure
| Unique citing works | 7 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,18 |
| Citation span | 1987 - 2026 (40) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 7 |