Life is not a camping trip - on the desirability of Cohenite socialism
Politics, Philosophy and Economics 11 (2):171-185 (2012)
| Abstract | In Why Not Socialism?, GA Cohen defines socialism as the combined application of two moral principles: the egalitarian principle and the principle of community. The desirability of a social order organized around these two principles is illustrated by the ‘camping trip’ example. After describing the fundamental features of the camping trip scenario at reasonable length, Cohen argues that the desirability of such a social model is nearly self-explanatory, concluding therefore that the most significant challenges to socialism lie in its feasibility. This article argues that the desirability of the camping trip model as an appropriate ideal for society is less obvious than Cohen acknowledges. To argue my point, I shall compare the camping trip with another social practice that is equally small sized and characterized by strong emotional ties among its members, but in which the conditions of what I shall call ‘goal-monism’ and discontinuity in time do not hold, namely, the family | |||||||||
| Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Categories | ||||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,709 |
| External links |
 |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesJason Brennan (2013). Is Market Society Intrinsically Repugnant? Journal of Business Ethics 112 (2):271-281.
Richard W. Miller (2010). Relationships of Equality: A Camping Trip Revisited. Journal of Ethics 14 (3-4):231-253.
Pablo Gilabert (2011). Feasibility and Socialism. Journal of Political Philosophy 19 (1):52-63.
Janne Chung & Gary S. Monroe (2003). Exploring Social Desirability Bias. Journal of Business Ethics 44 (4):291 - 302.
Pablo Gilabert (2012). Cohen on Socialism, Equality and Community. Socialist Studies 8 (1):101-121.
Owen Hatherley (2010). Carry on Camping. The Philosopher's Magazine (48):110-111.
Sarah K. Donovan (2008). Teaching Philosophy Outside of the Classroom: One Alternative to Service Learning. Teaching Philosophy 31 (2):161-177.
John E. Roemer (2010). Jerry Cohens Why Not Socialism? Some Thoughts. Journal of Ethics 14 (3-4):255-262.
Peter J. Boettke & Peter T. Leeson (2005). Still Impossible After All These Years: Reply to Caplan. Critical Review 17 (1-2):155-170.
Nicholas Vrousalis (2010). G. A. Cohen's Vision of Socialism. Journal of Ethics 14 (3-4):185-216.
Richard A. Bernardi (2006). Associations Between Hofstede's Cultural Constructs and Social Desirability Response Bias. Journal of Business Ethics 65 (1):43 - 53.
Kai Nielsen (1989). A Moral Case for Socialism. Critical Review 3 (3-4):542-553.
Derek Dalton & Marc Ortegren (2011). Gender Differences in Ethics Research: The Importance of Controlling for the Social Desirability Response Bias. Journal of Business Ethics 103 (1):73-93.
Donna M. Randall & Maria F. Fernandes (1991). The Social Desirability Response Bias in Ethics Research. Journal of Business Ethics 10 (11):805 - 817.
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2011-10-15Total downloads45 ( #24,580 of 549,558 )Recent downloads (6 months)3 ( #25,790 of 549,558 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
