In The Market as God, theologian Harvey Cox draws an intriguing analogy between The Market (capitalized as a deity) and the biblical God; Cox argues that The Market has taken control of our world like God to the religious, and as such has become the main religion in the world today. He draws a variety of parallels between the treatment, actions, and powers of The Market and God, and uses these parallels to draw conclusions about how to relegate The Market to a more appropriate role. His central thesis is that humans created markets for specific purposes, but they have now has grown too prominent in the psyche of its adherents, and thus has expanded into The Market, a deity that is not only intruding on other institutions but is ineffective
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First, rather than an analysis of the similarities between The Market and religion, the book devolves into a normative discussion of what The Market should do according to Cox’s own religious beliefs. Second, Cox’s arguments lack a consistent definition of “The Market,” weakening his arguments and falling into a strawman fallacy. Finally, due to his own biases, he fails to discuss that both The Market and religion are both ‘myths’ used to organize human …show more content…
Ignoring the politico-economic implications for the time being, it would be one thing if this assessment was borne out of an objective assessment of the situation by Cox. Instead, it results from Cox’s adherence to his own ideological principles. It is ironic that Cox, who spends a significant portion of the book criticizing the ideological adherence of followers of The Market, succumbs to ideological adherence within his book. As a liberation theologist, Cox seeks a way that God can solve the problems of the physical world. Specifically, because of his own biases, Cox is providing a normative judgement of the market using his own religious principles as a proxy for morals. This is logically inconsistent. Cox’s argument that we need to “find a soul for The Market” and use it more altruistically for the benefit of all, rather than an elite few, is motivated by religious morality but could easily be motivated by another system of morals, like utilitarianism or effective
First, rather than an analysis of the similarities between The Market and religion, the book devolves into a normative discussion of what The Market should do according to Cox’s own religious beliefs. Second, Cox’s arguments lack a consistent definition of “The Market,” weakening his arguments and falling into a strawman fallacy. Finally, due to his own biases, he fails to discuss that both The Market and religion are both ‘myths’ used to organize human …show more content…
Ignoring the politico-economic implications for the time being, it would be one thing if this assessment was borne out of an objective assessment of the situation by Cox. Instead, it results from Cox’s adherence to his own ideological principles. It is ironic that Cox, who spends a significant portion of the book criticizing the ideological adherence of followers of The Market, succumbs to ideological adherence within his book. As a liberation theologist, Cox seeks a way that God can solve the problems of the physical world. Specifically, because of his own biases, Cox is providing a normative judgement of the market using his own religious principles as a proxy for morals. This is logically inconsistent. Cox’s argument that we need to “find a soul for The Market” and use it more altruistically for the benefit of all, rather than an elite few, is motivated by religious morality but could easily be motivated by another system of morals, like utilitarianism or effective