Business ethics - Kant

Question 1

Kant Adam smith

Answer 1

Kant was influenced by Adam Smith’s argument in which privatization encourages competition, results in economic growth and harnesses societal gain. This is because Kant’s ethics accords with this as it depicts the rational individual as the centre of moral responsibility. Contractual arrangements and market interactions involve the treatment of people by each other as ends.
However, when business practices or the macro effects of capitalism result in people being treated as mere means or otherwise violate duty, it seems that Kant would think that immoral, even if it was good for the profit of the business.

Question 2

Kant Adam smith advantages

Answer 2

Upholds Corporate social responsibility in all respects as it does not violate the needs of the stakeholders or the shareholders.
The second formulation would require that market interactions do not involve the treatment of people as mere means

Question 3

Kant Adam smith disadvantages

Answer 3

But is this possible, too utopian? With competition and growth in business is it pragmatic that for success some people should be treated as ends

Some people wont live by Kant’s formulation those who do will be exploited

Question 4

Kant Adam smith counter

Answer 4

Sweat shops, Child Labour etc. could lead to mass exploitation of minority groups within society Reduces humans to be ego-centric and only focused on their own materialistic gain

Question 5

Kant Adam smith - Util solution

Answer 5

Mill – Laws should be put into place to prevent this from happening as arguably the suffering of thousands would supersede the satisfaction of consumers materialism (base)
follows Singer

Question 6

Whistleblowing

Answer 6

Whistleblowing is when someone, usually an employee, leaks information about the wrongdoings of a company. This could be bad business practices regarding employees, customers, society or the environment

Question 7

Whistleblowing and Kant

Answer 7

Kant thinks lying cannot be universalised and is therefore always wrong. So, he would certainly also be against lying to cover up negative business practises, even if that truth being brought to light resulted in the failure of the businesses and employees who may have done nothing wrong nonetheless losing their jobs. It is your duty never to lie.

Question 8

Whistleblowing and Kant FB

Answer 8

Frances Haugen ‘The Facebook Files’. One quote from the files in the leak acknowledged that “we make body issues worse for one in three teenage girls”. The leak also shows that the Facebook algorithm promoted posts that caused anger or outrage.
- Stops dangerous exploitation

Question 9

Whistleblowing and Kant FB disadvantages

Answer 9

Employee – employer relationship

Question 10

Whistleblowing and Kant FB counter

Answer 10

Duty Most if not all cases of whistleblowing seem to involve exploitative or deceptive business practices that treat people as a mere means

Question 11

Whistleblowing and Kant FB counter disadvantages

Answer 11

Unclear as sometime WB causes more harm than good Wikileaks - could be dangerous and could be leaking sensitive information to other countries or terrorist groups which puts a lot more
Duties conflict ‘to tell the truth’ and promise keeping

Question 12

Whistleblowing and Kant FB act util solution

Answer 12

An act utilitarian would consider each scenario individually and weigh up all the pros and coN

Singer

Question 13

Globalisation

Answer 13

Globalisation is the phenomenon where businesses are now global entities spanning multiple countries and continents and its impact on stakeholders.

Can lead to mass exploitation in sweat shops for example in Primark where they used fast fashion in the third world countries to make products cheaply -Kant would disagree as it would be using people for an end for their own economic gain

Question 14

Globalisation - MasAskill

Answer 14

MacAskill if avoid sweatshops and business lose incentive to open it could make problem worse as prevents them from having a job which in many third countries they need as danger of starvation

Question 15

Globalisation - MasAskill disadvantages

Answer 15

It justifies bad actions or harm (e.g. exploitation) to some minority if the happiness gained by a majority were greater.
Disregard human ’rights’ and allows the AC countries to dominate and exploit those who have less of an economical advantage Kant’s ‘duty for duty’s sake’

Question 16

Why Kant wont work - Globalisation

Answer 16

Disregards animals and environment

Question 17

Mill - globalisation

Answer 17

Mill’s harm principle seems to solve this problem because it suggests that society will be happiest if the rule of not harming others is followed. It seems this would commit Mill to being against exploitation as a rule, even if in individual cases it might produce more happiness than suffering.

Prevent Globalisation from happening on a level of the Rana Plaza where a third floor was illegally added to maximise profits