The Moral Problems of Competition

Competition is a key element in the institutional design in Western liberal democracies. This book offers a conceptual and normative analysis of the value and ethics of competition. We compete for jobs, promotions, grants, prizes, access to selective (university) programmes and the recognition and p...

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Huvudupphov: Drissen, Yvette
Materialtyp: Online
Språk:engelska
Utgiven: Taylor & Francis 2026
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Länkar:ONIX_20260519T105720_9781040594544_15
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author Drissen, Yvette
author_browse Drissen, Yvette
author_facet Drissen, Yvette
author_sort Drissen, Yvette
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description Competition is a key element in the institutional design in Western liberal democracies. This book offers a conceptual and normative analysis of the value and ethics of competition. We compete for jobs, promotions, grants, prizes, access to selective (university) programmes and the recognition and power that comes with it. While competition is widely accepted and even embraced, it is also clear that it comes with serious problems. This book questions the self-evidence with which competitive incentive structures and selection and distribution mechanisms are employed on the labour market, in education and in academia. It shows that the moral problems associated with competition are not mere unfortunate side effects that we should take for granted but baked into its very nature. It argues, in short, that even when competitions are considered fair, they tend to corrupt practices and come with significant opportunity, psychological and emotional costs, while undermining solidarity. As such, this book contributes to the latest philosophical debates on the nature and desirability of competition. The Moral Problems of Competition will appeal to researchers and graduate students working in ethics, political philosophy, political theory, economics and sociology.
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-1767472026-06-04T08:32:09Z The Moral Problems of Competition Drissen, Yvette Normative ethics Distributive justice Meritocracy critique Institutional design Academic selection processes Psychological impact competition Ethical analysis of competitive systems thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDT Topics in philosophy::QDTQ Ethics and moral philosophy thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDT Topics in philosophy::QDTS Social and political philosophy thema EDItEUR::K Economics, Finance, Business and Management::KC Economics::KCA Economic theory and philosophy thema EDItEUR::K Economics, Finance, Business and Management::KC Economics::KCP Political economy thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPA Political science and theory thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBF Social and ethical issues thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JH Sociology and anthropology::JHB Sociology Competition is a key element in the institutional design in Western liberal democracies. This book offers a conceptual and normative analysis of the value and ethics of competition. We compete for jobs, promotions, grants, prizes, access to selective (university) programmes and the recognition and power that comes with it. While competition is widely accepted and even embraced, it is also clear that it comes with serious problems. This book questions the self-evidence with which competitive incentive structures and selection and distribution mechanisms are employed on the labour market, in education and in academia. It shows that the moral problems associated with competition are not mere unfortunate side effects that we should take for granted but baked into its very nature. It argues, in short, that even when competitions are considered fair, they tend to corrupt practices and come with significant opportunity, psychological and emotional costs, while undermining solidarity. As such, this book contributes to the latest philosophical debates on the nature and desirability of competition. The Moral Problems of Competition will appeal to researchers and graduate students working in ethics, political philosophy, political theory, economics and sociology. 2026-05-20T09:37:53Z 2026-05-20T09:37:53Z 2026-05-19T12:44:49Z 2026 book ONIX_20260519T105720_9781040594544_15 https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/113172 9781040594544 9781003627074 9781040611890 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/176747 eng Routledge Focus on Philosophy open access image/jpeg image/jpeg Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/113172/1/9781040594544.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/113172/1/9781040594544.pdf Taylor & Francis Routledge 10.4324/9781003627074 10.4324/9781003627074 fa69b019-f4ee-4979-8d42-c6b6c476b5f0 9781040594544 9781003627074 9781040611890 Routledge 128 Oxford open access
spellingShingle Normative ethics
Distributive justice
Meritocracy critique
Institutional design
Academic selection processes
Psychological impact competition
Ethical analysis of competitive systems
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDT Topics in philosophy::QDTQ Ethics and moral philosophy
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDT Topics in philosophy::QDTS Social and political philosophy
thema EDItEUR::K Economics, Finance, Business and Management::KC Economics::KCA Economic theory and philosophy
thema EDItEUR::K Economics, Finance, Business and Management::KC Economics::KCP Political economy
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPA Political science and theory
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBF Social and ethical issues
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JH Sociology and anthropology::JHB Sociology
Drissen, Yvette
The Moral Problems of Competition
title The Moral Problems of Competition
title_full The Moral Problems of Competition
title_fullStr The Moral Problems of Competition
title_full_unstemmed The Moral Problems of Competition
title_short The Moral Problems of Competition
title_sort moral problems of competition
topic Normative ethics
Distributive justice
Meritocracy critique
Institutional design
Academic selection processes
Psychological impact competition
Ethical analysis of competitive systems
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDT Topics in philosophy::QDTQ Ethics and moral philosophy
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDT Topics in philosophy::QDTS Social and political philosophy
thema EDItEUR::K Economics, Finance, Business and Management::KC Economics::KCA Economic theory and philosophy
thema EDItEUR::K Economics, Finance, Business and Management::KC Economics::KCP Political economy
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPA Political science and theory
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBF Social and ethical issues
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JH Sociology and anthropology::JHB Sociology
topic_facet Normative ethics
Distributive justice
Meritocracy critique
Institutional design
Academic selection processes
Psychological impact competition
Ethical analysis of competitive systems
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDT Topics in philosophy::QDTQ Ethics and moral philosophy
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDT Topics in philosophy::QDTS Social and political philosophy
thema EDItEUR::K Economics, Finance, Business and Management::KC Economics::KCA Economic theory and philosophy
thema EDItEUR::K Economics, Finance, Business and Management::KC Economics::KCP Political economy
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPA Political science and theory
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBF Social and ethical issues
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JH Sociology and anthropology::JHB Sociology
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