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Preface

Chapter 1: The Original Sin of Capitalism

  1. The Assault on Consciousness
  2. The “Social” and Economic Criticisms of Advertising
    1. The "Social" Criticisms
    2. The Economic Criticisms
  3. The Nature of Marketing and Advertising
    1. Marketing Is Entrepreneurship
    2. Advertising Is “Just Salesmanship”
    3. The Industrial Revolution
    4. The Nature of Applied Science
  4. The Power of Ideas

Chapter 2: Two Philosophic World Views

  1. The Authoritarianism of the Critics’ World View
    1. The Philosophic Doctrines
    2. The Economic Doctrine
    3. The Role of Marxism
    4. The Role of Kant
  2. The Liberalism of the Alternative
    1. One, Secular World and Man’s Volition
    2. Objective Knowledge
    3. Objective Value
    4. Egoism
    5. Capitalism
    6. Capitalism and Christianity

  3. The Critics vs. Reason

Appendix: The Fallacies of Myopic Marketing

Chapter 3: The Alleged Coercive Power of Advertising

  1. “Subliminal” Advertising Allegedly Deceives and Manipulates
    1. Self-Contradiction
    2. The Unearned Popularity of the Charge
  2. “Persuasive” Advertising Allegedly Creates the Needs and Wants It Aims to Satisfy
    1. False Dichotomy Between Informative and Persuasive Advertising
    2. Determinism Is Untenable
    3. Tastes and Wants Not Dependent on Advertising
    4. Luxuries and Necessities
  3. Fraud, Puffery, and the Federal Trade Commission
    1. Honesty Sells
    2. Fraud, Puffery, and Sophistry
      1. Fraud and the FTC
      2. Puffery
      3. Sophistry
      4. FTC: No Protector of Consumers
      5. Advertising to Children
      6. Objective Law

Chapter 4: The Alleged Offensiveness of Advertising

  1. The Moral Issue
    1. Tastes Are Morally Optional Values
      1. Intrinsicism
      2. The Issue of Options
    2. “Good Taste” Is Discriminative Ability
      1. The Standard of Good Advertising
      2. "Good Taste" In Advertising
    3. The Alleged Esthetic Issue
    4. The Issue of Product Quality
      1. Social Value vs. Philosophical Value
      2. The Price/Quality Comparison
      3. Services and Intellectual Products
  2. The Legal Issue
    1. Acts That Initiate Physical Force Must Be Banned Censorship
    2. The New Prohibitionism

Appendix

  1. How To Evaluate an Advertisement
  2. How To Argue Against the Censorship of Advertising

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Reviews • Detailed Contents • Preface • Excerpts • Behind the Scenes

Cover of In Defense of Advertising Detailed Contents 

In Defense of Advertising:
Arguments from Reason, Ethical Egoism, and Laissez-Faire Capitalism

by Jerry Kirkpatrick, Ph.D., Professor of International Business and Marketing, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

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Chapter 5: The Economic Foundations of Advertising: Three Views

  1. The Neoclassical School
    1. The Origin of Perfect Competition
    2. Imperfect and Monopolistic Competition
  2. The Chicago School
    1. Friedman's Methodology
    2. Criticism “Largely Irrelevant”
    3. The Chicago School's Defense of Perfect Competition
    4. Advertising As Information
  3. The Austrian School
    1. Perfect Competition Is Out
    2. The Market Process
    3. The Intellectual Division of Labor
    4. The Importance of the Entrepreneur
    5. Advertising As Entrepreneurship
  4. The Doctrine of Pure and Perfect Competition

Chapter 6: Refuting the Doctrine of Pure and Perfect Competition

  1. The Reductio Ad Absurdum
    1. Assumptions Are Collectivistic
    2. Competition Must Be Abolished
    3. “To the Left of Marxism”
  2. The Epistemological Issue
    1. Kant, Logical Positivism, and Friedman
    2. Mind/Body Dichotomy and Nominalism
  3. Ayn Rand’s Epistemology
    1. Consciousness and Existence
    2. The Theory of Concepts
      1. Concept-Formation
      2. The Role of Measurement
  4. Attacking Perfect Competition’s Underlying Premises
    1. Science Is Not (Numerical) Measurement
    2. No Quantitative Laws in Human Science
    3. The Role of Statistics in Economics and Marketing
    4. Perfect Competition Is Totally Irrelevant

Chapter 7: The Alleged Monopoly Power of Advertising

  1. Advertising Allegedly Erects Barriers To Market Entry
    1. Equivocation on “Barrier”
    2. Collectivized Rights
    3. Advertising Is a Means of Entry
    4. The Product Creates Loyalty
  2. Advertising Allegedly Increases Prices
    1. Production Costs vs. Selling Costs
    2. National Brands vs. Private Brands
    3. Advertising Lowers Real Prices Over Time
  3. Advertising Creates Value
    1. Differentiation Is the Norm
    2. Market Value Is Psychological Value
  4. The Meaning of Monopoly Power
    1. Inelastic Demand Does Not Indicate Monopoly Power
    2. Nor Do High Profits Or Industry Concentration Indicate Monopoly Power
    3. Economic Monopoly vs. Political Monopoly

Chapter 8: The Benevolence of Advertising