Coercion

To be coerced is to be forced to act against one’s will. Coercers are unable to use rational persuasion to convince victims of coercion into performing a specified action and so resort to physical force and threats. Coercion is widely understood to undermine individual freedom, and because of [Page 502]this, its use requires justification. Coercion is relevant to the conduct of business in several ways. For example, coerced contractual agreements are typically regarded as invalid both in ethics and in law. But to determine whether or not coercion has taken place, one must first determine what constitutes coercion.