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Should we be able to buy babies, cadavers for dissection, or organs for transplantation? How about placing bets on our own life expectancy or the timing of a future terrorist attack?
Distaste for certain kinds of transactions creates constraints on markets that are just as real as those imposed by regulations or technology. Aversion can shape entire markets and therefore the choices people face. In many respects, the nature of repugnance fundamentally influences what we can buy and sell in America today.
At this event, Alvin Roth will present a paper on repugnance and markets which examines various dimensions of the “yuck” factor. Sally Satel, M.D., Paul Bloom, and Michael Novak will consider key issues raised by his analysis. To what extent should distaste provide a justification to the passage of legal prohibitions? What factors temper reactions of disgust so that judgments about moral permissibility change over time? When transactions that have genuine social value are banned—such as the sale of transplantable organs–are there ways to address the emotional concerns of critics? Can repugnance be turned to acceptance—or at least toleration? If so, at what cost?
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