Practices, institutions, and justice in pricing

Abstract

This chapter argues for the need to take virtue into account when dealing with price justification. Following Alasdair MacIntyre’s account of social practices, we argue that institutions are both necessary for and potentially corruptive of practices and that virtue is a necessary feature in the justification of price-related practices because it provides a safeguard against the corruptive effects of institutions on these practices. We propose a normative framework for thinking about price justification which may serve as a complement to other conceptions of the just price based on specific values.