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The Costs of Tragedy: Some Moral Limits of Cost-Benefit Analysis

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  • Nussbaum, Martha C

Abstract

In all situations of choice, we face a question that I call "the obvious question": what shall we do? But sometimes we also face, or should face, a different question, which I call "the tragic question": is any of the alternatives open to us free from serious moral wrongdoing? Discussing cases of tragic conflict from literature, philosophy, and contemporary life, I argue that it is valuable to face the tragic question where it is pertinent, because facing it helps us think how we might design a society where such unpalatable choices do not confront people, or confront them less often. Cost-benefit analysis helps us answer the obvious question; but it does not help us either pose or answer the tragic question, and it frequently obscures the presence of a tragic situation, by suggesting that the obvious question is the only pertinent question. I apply these reflections to thinking about basic entitlements of citizens, such as might be embodied in constitutional guarantees. Copyright 2000 by the University of Chicago.

Suggested Citation

  • Nussbaum, Martha C, 2000. "The Costs of Tragedy: Some Moral Limits of Cost-Benefit Analysis," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 29(2), pages 1005-1036, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jlstud:v:29:y:2000:i:2:p:1005-36
    DOI: 10.1086/468103
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    Cited by:

    1. Heidi Peterson, 2023. "Cost–Benefit Analysis (CBA) or the Highway? An Alternative Road to Investigating the Value for Money of International Development Research," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 35(2), pages 260-280, April.
    2. repec:hal:journl:hal-01023795 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. repec:sae:envval:v:25:y:2016:i:2:p:215-234 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Michael Rushton, 2011. "Artistic Freedom," Chapters, in: Ruth Towse (ed.), A Handbook of Cultural Economics, Second Edition, chapter 6, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    5. Richard O. Zerbe, 2013. "Ethical benefit–cost analysis as art and science: ten rules for benefit–cost analysis," Chapters, in: Scott O. Farrow & Richard Zerbe, Jr. (ed.), Principles and Standards for Benefit–Cost Analysis, chapter 8, pages 264-293, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    6. Zerbe, Richard, 2023. "A foundation for benefit-cost analysis," MPRA Paper 121294, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Jun 2024.
    7. Ferreiro, Maria de Fátima & Gonçalves, Maria Eduarda & Costa, Ana, 2013. "Conflicting values and public decision: The Foz Côa case," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 129-135.
    8. David Colander & KimMarie McGoldrick, 2009. "The Economics Major as Part of a Liberal Education: The Teagle Report," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(2), pages 611-618, May.
    9. Pasi Heikkurinen & Jukka Mäkinen, 2018. "Synthesising Corporate Responsibility on Organisational and Societal Levels of Analysis: An Integrative Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 149(3), pages 589-607, May.
    10. Thomas Thaler, 2021. "Just retreat—how different countries deal with it: examples from Austria and England," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 11(3), pages 412-419, September.
    11. Zerbe, Richard, 2023. "The assignment of rights under economic or legal uncertainty," MPRA Paper 121295, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Jun 2024.
    12. Swann Bommier & Cécile Renouard, 2014. "On Equity in India's Water Supply Public-Private Partnerships," Working Papers hal-01023795, HAL.
    13. Rosemary Lowry & Martin Peterson, 2012. "Cost-benefit analysis and non-utilitarian ethics," Politics, Philosophy & Economics, , vol. 11(3), pages 258-279, August.
    14. Bommier, Swann & Renouard, Cécile, 2014. "On Equity in India's Water Supply Public-Private Partnerships," ESSEC Working Papers WP1411, ESSEC Research Center, ESSEC Business School.
    15. A. R. Siders, 2019. "Social justice implications of US managed retreat buyout programs," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 152(2), pages 239-257, January.
    16. Joshua Chen-Yuan Teng & Joseph Tao-yi Wang & C. C. Yang, 2020. "Justice, what money can buy: a lab experiment on primary social goods and the Rawlsian difference principle," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 31(1), pages 45-69, March.
    17. Ajit Nayak, 2016. "Wisdom and the Tragic Question: Moral Learning and Emotional Perception in Leadership and Organisations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 137(1), pages 1-13, August.
    18. Ewa Roszkowska & Tom R. Burns, 2010. "Fuzzy Bargaining Games: Conditions of Agreement, Satisfaction, and Equilibrium," Group Decision and Negotiation, Springer, vol. 19(5), pages 421-440, September.

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