Overview

Secrets structure our social lives. They allow us to shape our identity, to protect our innermost selves, and to avoid shame, humiliation, judgment, and influence. There can be no question that secrecy is an essential attribute of modern social life (Adut, 2018; Bok, 1989; Goffman, 1959; Jones, 2014). But what of our economic lives? This dissertation aims to shed light on the ethics of secrecy in economic life, both for managers of large firms and for individuals within markets. It is the first to inquire directly into the moral theory of secrecy in commercial contexts as it intersects with concepts from business ethics, organizational theory, legal theory, and normative political economy. Essay 1 addresses a range of theoretical issues in secrecy, transparency, and moral theory. Essay 2 considers a particular contested case of corporate secrecy-pay secrecy. This essay's applied discussion also generates several additional insights for a more general ethics of corporate secrecy and self-regulation. Essay 3 shifts away from the corporate perspective toward the generic market actor's perspective, investigating the moral-economic justifications we may have for refusing to transact with certain other actors in markets. It also illustrates why more secrecy will in some cases be a morally beneficial feature of markets.

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9781835205730

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