Michael Baurmann
Der Markt der Tugend
Recht und Moral in der liberalen Gesellschaft. Eine soziologische Untersuchung
[The Market for Virtue. Law and Morality in the Liberal Society. A Sociological Study. Student edition. By Michael Baurmann.]
2000. XIX, 681 pages. Published in German.
- paper
- available
- 978-3-16-147312-8
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Summary
A liberal market society is often critized as being a society in which morality and virtues are crowded out by increasing egoism and utility-maximization. Michael Baurmann develops quite a different picture. He shows that anonymous market-relations and competition are by no means the only traits of a liberal society. Freedom of cooperation and association is one of its main characteristics as well. This freedom lays the fundament for the emergence of moral commitment and civil virtues which are needed to provide the public goods a free society is based on - in particular the limitation of state power by the rule of law.