Skip to main content

Money, Greed, and Commodification

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
The Meaning of Evil
  • 607 Accesses

Abstract

The ubiquity of expressions like “the love of money is the root of all evil” suggests that many people associate evil with the unscrupulous pursuit of wealth. This is interesting, though, since most philosophers who work on the nature of evil tend to overlook the category of money-related evils entirely. This chapter aims to rectify that by examining a range of such evils, including Bernie Madoff’s perpetration of the largest financial fraud in history, human trafficking, and even intensive animal farming, as well as a series of empirical psychological studies of the effects of money upon the mind. Much like Chaps. 2 and 3, the information gathered in this chapter will be useful later in the book, especially when the time comes to examine various philosophical theories of evil.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 29.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 37.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Copyright information

© 2016 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Sias, J. (2016). Money, Greed, and Commodification. In: The Meaning of Evil. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56822-9_4

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics