v1n13: Snyder Responds to Hidalgo on Paying a Living Wage

“Disregard and Dependency,” by Jeremy Snyder

A RESPONSE TO Javier Hidalgo (2013), “Do Employers Have Obligations to Pay Their Workers a Living Wage?”, Bus Ethics J Rev 1(11): 69-75.

Abstract: Although Hidalgo (2013) accurately identifies mine as a moralized account of dependence, he misconstrues the role it plays in my (2008) argument. A specified duty of beneficence is not based on the dependency of one person on another, but on the idea that our relationships with others provide the opportunity to disregard specific others’ basic needs. Hidalgo (2013: 74) thus misattributes to me the view that “relationships of dependence activate special obligations.” Only by conflating my argument for a specified duty of beneficence with my use of dependency to limit and clarify the extent of these demands, does my argument appear circular.

To download the full PDF, click here: Snyder Responds to Hidalgo.