Money motives, moral philosophy, and biological explanations

Abstract

Lea & Webley (L&W) provide two alternative biologicalaccounts of human monetary motivations, the Tool Theory and the DrugTheory. They argue that both are required for an adequate explanation.I explore the applicability of these models to philosophical discussions of how we might justify such motivations. I argue their approach is not entirely satisfactory for normative questions, since it precludes the possibility of rational non-instrumental attitudes towards money.