Chapter 1 - Fundamentals of Business Ethics Flashcards
Define Moral Conduct
Refers to rights, wrongs, and fairness in behaviour
Define ethics
The discipline that deals with moral duty and obligation
Business ethics
concerned with morality and fairness in behaviour, actions, and practices that apply in a business context
- the study of practices in business and whether or not they are expectable
Morality vs Ethical theory
Hunting vs Killing, is it for sustenance (necessity for living) or fois gras ( a luxurious food)
Morality vs the Law
Morality = what we should do Law= what we can do
Problem with The rule of conscience
Problem: we all have different consciences
Relativism of Belief
The truth or justification of moral Judgements is not absolute, but relative to the traditions, convictions, or practices of societies or cultures
Objectivity of Belief
Moral judgements are generally true or false in an absolute or universal sense, and persons will either accept or reject moral positions on that basis
Define Right, Obligation, justice, good, virtues and responsibility
right- entitlements that are not earned
obligations - duty to do well
justice = distribution of costs and benefits in an equitable way
good = to do good or at least no harm
virtues = art and practice of becoming a good person
responsibility =
The problem with Egoism
- Psychological egoism - help others because it indirectly or directly benefits you
- Ethical egoism - persons ought to look out for their self-interest
- egoistic business practices and utilitarian results
Divine command ethics
- moral obligation consists on the obedience of God’s command
- provides a reason to be moral
- obligations vary
Primary challenge of Divine Command ethics
- Does God command an action because it’s morally right or is it morally right because God commands it?
Teleological = …. ethical principle
Utilitarianism
Deontological= …ethical principle
- Kant’s categorical imperative
- principle of justice
- Principle of Liberty
Aristotelian…=ethical principle
virtue ethics
Utilitarian theorist
- Dave Hume (1711-1776)
- Jeremy Benthan (1748-1832)
- John Stewart Mill ( 1806-1873)
3 Essential features of Utilitarianism
- max. good, min. bad and evil
- theory of good
- commitment to the measurement and comparison good
Act Utilitarianism
Would break a moral rule to maximize utility
Rule Utilitarianism
Rules hold a central place and cannot be compromised
Utilitarianism ethics
- ends justifies the means
- greatest good for the greatest number
- group, not individual focus
- determined by an ideal observer
- prominent in capital markets
KEY problem in Utilitarianism
- oppression of Minority
“Ethics of Duty” = …. who’s ethical principle
Kant
What is the only barometer of ethics?
Means, motive must be pure
Ethics of Duty… says what about dignity
- Dignity must be respected and encouraged
3 Categorical imperatives
- Universality - act in a way that your principles could be universal
- Respect of persons, never treat people as a means to an end, always as an end
- Kingdom of ends, make principles you can live under
Key problem with Kant’s principle
Lack of pragmatism - an approach that assesses the truth and meaning of theories or beliefs in terms of their practical application
Rights theories of Ethics
Rights form the basis for obligation because they express the purpose of morality, which is securing liberties or other benefits for right holders
Define a negative right
valid claim to liberty, requires that we not interfere with the obligations of other, leave them alone
Define a positive right
valid claim to goods or services and positive obligation requires that we provide such goods and services
Who came up with the entitlement theory?
Robert Nozick, follows the right theories
Historical principle of the entitlement theories
Distributions depends on how it came about
Current slice principles of the entitlement theory
who has what
patterning of the entitlement theory
- moral merit, needs, marginal product, effort
Locke’s Theory of Acquisition?
Ownership through mixing of own’s labour
Veil of ignorance
nobody knows your position or genome in society
Grey areas
Benefit of the doubt is given to the weaker party
Ethics of virtue links what 2 things
Virtue of Character and eudemonia (happyiness and human thriving)
Virtuous motivational structure
- understand what should be done
- be motivated to perform the required acts
- form and act on moral ideas
Critics of assessing Virtue
It can only be assessed after the matter
Standards of actions such as: dont kill, tell the truth, dont steal, and moral character traits such as humility and integrity are examples of what?
Common morality
What is the purpose of morality?
to preserve social order
