Exploitation: What it is and why It's Wrong

Exploitation: What It Is and Why It's Wrong locates what it is we recognize as bad when we judge a situation to be exploitative. This is not merely a matter of surveying ordinary moral judgments--author Ruth Sample identifies what's wrong with exploitation in the ethically thick sense. In so doing, she argues that some cases that have been regarded as exploitative are not genuinely so, and that some exploitative situations are not generally seen as such. Sample's own account locates exploitation in those interactions that we might call degrading, even when those interactions are voluntary or worsen one's own position. While exploitation is morally bad, because of the plurality of values in our moral universe, it does not follow that exploitative situations should be prohibited by law or sanctioned by public opinion.Exploitation is ideal for courses in social and political philosophy, public policy, or political science.