A Crossroads, Not an Island: A Response to Hanoch Dagan

Hanoch Dagan critiques Radical Markets for insufficient attention to the value of autonomy. While most of his concrete disagreements result from miscommunications, he appears sympathetic to a theory of autonomy, which is more widespread and deserves response. Human agency is fundamentally social, and individuality is primarily constituted by the unique set of social connections and identities one adopts. In this sense, flourishing individuals are crossroads of different communities not self-sufficient islands. Beyond any welfarist benefits, a fundamental value of Radical Markets is that they aim to instantiate the social nature of identity and empower agency through diverse community.