Analysis Of Michael Sandel's Essay 'Markets And Morals'

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In the essay by Michael Sandel, from his book Markets and Morals, he explains how the free market is hurting families and taking over society. Sandel's purpose is to inform the reader on how money and markets are taking over our lives, becoming more important than morality, and hurting those who have less money. The purpose is shown all throughout the essay, and even in the first line when he says "There are some things money can't buy, but these days, not many," (Sandel 40). He further shows his purpose by discussing the Era of Market Triumphalism. Sandel made himself out to be intelligent and caring. Sandel shows his intelligence by using his general knowledge of society throughout the essay. A good example is when he discussed how to …show more content…

Sandel appeals to this audience by using emotion and hard evidence by providing numerous facts in the essay, while also using his own knowledge. Sandel appeals to people's emotion with the quote above in the latter part of the paragraph, and with similar quotes in the essay. Sandel further elaborates on that quote by basically saying everything being put up for sale is hurting people because money has become more important. Another way he appeals to emotion is by providing another reason we should avoid putting everything up for sale. This is shown through the quote "It is not about inequality and fairness but about the corrosive tendency of markets. Putting a price on the good things in life can corrupt them. That's because markets don't only allocate goods; they also express and promote certain attitudes toward the goods being exchanged. Paying kids to read books might get them to read more, but also teach them to regard reading as a chore rather than a source of intrinsic satisfaction. Auctioning seats in the freshman class to the highest bidders might raise revenue but also erode the integrity of the college and the value of its diploma," (Sandel 44). Sandel is basically saying that putting everything up for sale ruins the emotional and sentimental value. Some examples of Sandel providing fact and hard evidence is the financial crisis of 2008. Sandel discusses the