Saturday, October 20, 2018

Capitalism and Slavery

A theoretical proposition is falsified if it entails a contradiction.  Thus, a universal theoretical proposition is falsified by the existence of one counter-example.  Now, the normative proposition 'One ought to do A' can be rendered as the universal theoretical proposition 'Every doing A is Good'.  Thus, the normative proposition is falsified by any occurrence of A that is not Good.  Now, Profit is the difference between Expense and Receipt.  So, in the case of 'One ought to seek to maximize Profit', an instance of seeking to maximize Profit is enslaving another person, i. e. since it entails a minimization of Expense.  But the widespread illegalization of Slavery strongly indicates that it is not Good.  So, since 'One ought to seek to maximize Profit' is a cardinal principle of Capitalism, that Slavery is not only allowed, or even encouraged, but possibly even required in some circumstances, by Capitalism, suffices as a repudiation of that doctrine.

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