Alexander Reese

Title of Dissertation:
The Ethics of Markets in Modern Society: An Ordonomic Approach at the Intersection of Moral Philosophy and Economics

Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Ingo Pies
University: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg
Scholarship: SDW Scholarship
Cohort: 5. Cohort, since 2018
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

• Short Abstract

  “The most fateful change that unfolded during the past three decades was not an increase in greed. It was the expansion of markets, and of market values, into spheres of life where they
  don’t belong” (Sandel, 2012, p. 6). The renaissance of Aristotelean virtue ethics since the late 1950s has brought up an extensive philosophical literature criticizing that markets, although
  tremendously beneficial in producing good for most people, impose a threat to the moral life of citizens. It is concluded that we need moral limits to markets.

  What should be the moral limits and what are the moral qualities of markets? How we respond to this question shapes the design of markets.

  In my doctoral research, I look into a variety of repugnant market transactions, from “price gouging” in the aftermath of natural disasters to kidney markets. Taking a deep look at the
  virtue-ethical market critique, I develop (counter-)arguments that can be justified both from economic and philosophical considerations.

  The overall aim of my research is to facilitate mutual understanding between the disciplines of economics and philosophy and by that to improve the public discourse about the morality
  of markets.

  Sandel, M. J. (2012). What money can't buy. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

• Research Interests

  • Ethical Economy
  • Business Ethics
  • Ordonomics
  • Political Philosophy

• Education

  • 08/2020 – 05/2021, Visiting Ph.D., Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business (Georgetown Institute for the Study of Markets and Ethics), Washington D.C.

  • 2018, M.A. in Philosophy, University of Münster, Germany

  • 2016, French Master Grande École/ UK European M.Sc./ German M.Sc. in Management with specialization in Economics, ESCP Europe, London, Paris, Berlin

  • 2014, B.Sc. in General Management, EBS University, Germany

  • 2013, Study Abroad, Université Saint-Esprit de Kaslik, Lebanon

• Professional and Academic Career

  • 2016, Intern, German Embassy, London, United Kingdom
  • 2015, Intern, German Embassy - CIDAL, Paris, France
  • 2013, Intern, Henkel Beauty Care, Düsseldorf, Germany

• Publications

  • Reese, A. and Pies, I. (2021). What About “Price Gouging" By Employees, Business Ethics Journal Review, 9(3), pp. 14–20. doi: 12747/j1i03.
  • Gombert, A., Kirner, B., Ng, R., Reese, A. P., & Pies, I. (2020). EDEKA & WWF—moral commitments in a joint sustainability partnership between a business form and a civil society organization. The Case Center. https://www.thecasecentre.org/main/products/view?id=168978

• Conference Contributions: Talks

  • 06/2021, IABS 32^nd Annual Conference on Social Innovation, Brussels, Belgium: “The Moral Paradox of Modernity: An attempt to cope with the challenge that morality not only solves but also creates problems”

  • 11/2019, Wittenberg Interdisciplinary Business Ethics Conference, Wittenberg, Germany: “The Moral Limits of Markets Debate: how to handle semiotic market objections?”

• Memberships

  • 03/2021 – present, “All Tech is Human” Fellow

  • 01/2021 – 07/2021, Don Lavoie Fellowship, Mercatus Center at George Mason University