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The instrumental value of others and institutional change: An Athenian case study

Classical Greek architectureThe instrumental value of others and institutional change: An Athenian case study

Josiah Ober (Stanford University)

Princeton/Stanford Working Papers in Classics: February (2010)

Abstract

A primary motive for certain Athenian rule changes in the direction of increased legal access and impartiality in the fourth century B.C. was Athenian awareness of the increased instrumental value of foreigners. New Athenian rules were aimed at persuading foreigners to do business in Athens. Foreigners gained greater access to some Athenian institutions, and fairness, in the sense of impartiality, was more evident in some forms of legal decision-making. These new rules appear to have worked; Athens became more prosperous by the later fourth century, at least in part because foreigners liked the new rules and so did more business there. Because increased access and impartiality were not prompted by a changed Athenian approach to the ends/means distinction, a Kantian deontologist would deny that the new rules made Athens a better place. A consequentialist might disagree.



1. Instrumental v. inherent value

Among the central problems addressed by contemporary moral philosophy is the ethical question of how others ought to be valued. The primary issue for ethicists is not whether we should value others, but our reasons for valuing them. The categorical imperative of Kantian deontological (rights-and duties-centered) ethics insists that we treat others as inherently valuable ends-in-themselves, rather than as instruments or means to our own valued ends. Utilitarian or consequentialist (outcome-centered) ethics, on the other hand, allows considerable space for instrumentalizing others. The goal of the consequentialist is maximizing the quantity of some good, measured by aggregating utility satisfaction or preferences, across a given population (e.g. the residents of a state, all humanity, or even all sentient beings). Ancient Greek systems of ethics, with their focus on character and the virtues, cannot be reduced to a choice between deontology and consequentialism. Yet the contemporary ethical dichotomy nonetheless provides a useful device for evaluating changes in ancient institutions.

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