v1n11: Hidalgo on Snyder: Paying a Living Wage

“Do Employers Have Obligations to Pay Their Workers a Living Wage?” by Javier Hidalgo

A COMMENT ON Jeremy Snyder (2008), “Needs Exploitation,” Ethic Theory & Moral Prac 11(4): 389–405.

Abstract: Jeremy Snyder argues that employers have obligations to pay their workers a living wage if workers stand in relationships of dependence with their employers. I argue that Snyder’s argument for this conclusion faces a dilemma. Snyder can adopt either a descriptive or a moralized account of dependence. If Snyder adopts a descriptive account, then it is false that dependence activates obligations to pay a living wage. If Snyder endorses a moralized account of dependence, then Snyder’s argument is circular. So, Snyder’s argument fails to establish that employers have obligations to pay their workers a living wage.

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