Ethics Flashcards
Ethics
Moral principles and values applied to social behavior.
Ethics has to do with an action’s:
-Fairness
-Justness
-Rightness
-Wrongness
Business ethics
a consensus of what constitutes right or wrong behavior in the world of business and the application of moral principles to situations that arise in a business setting.
Business Ethics means providing reasons for how things
ought to be in the economic world. It requires the
following:
-Arranging values to guide decisions.
-Understanding the Facts
-Constructing Arguments
-Making a determination about right or wrong
Ways to dispute an argument in ethics
Facts
Values
Reasoning
Traditional determination of business ethics
People traditionally judged an organization as being more or less ethical based on the degree to which the organization pursued its own self-interests.
Ethical reasoning
A reasoning process in which an individual links his or her moral convictions or ethical standards to the particular situation at hand.
* applies to businesses as well.
* As businesses make decisions, they must consider the ethical implications of each alternative.
The study of ethics identifies two major categories:
Duty-based ethics
Outcome-based ethics
Outcome-based ethics
An ethical philosophy that focuses on the impacts of a decision on society or on key stakeholders.
Duty-based ethics
An ethical philosophy rooted in the idea that every person has certain duties to others, including both humans and the planet.
* Those duties may be derived from religious principles or from other
philosophical reasoning
Advantage and disadvantage of Duty Based Ethics
The main advantage is that the duties are fairly easy to understand work with.
The challenge is figuring out which duty should take precedence when there are conflicts between duties.
Advantage and disadvantage of Rights based Ethics
The main advantage is that it is attractive to individualists.
The main disadvantage is that is does not help people resolve their differences.
Advantages of Utilitarian Ethics
-Acceptability – The idea of bringing the greatest good to the greatest number is consistent with the common idea of what ethics is supposed to provide
-Flexibility - The weighing of individual actions in terms of their consequences allows for meaningful ethical rules
without requiring that all are treated identically.
-Breadth – The focus on outcomes is attractive for those interested in public policy.
Disadvantages of Utilitarian Ethics
- Subjectivity
- Quantification
- Apparent injustices
Altruism
An action is morally right if the action ‘s consequences are more beneficial than unfavorable for everyone EXCEPT the
person who acts.
Ethical Egoism
Opposite of Altruism, believes that actions ought to heighten THEIR OWN happiness and what happens to others is irrelevant.
Enlightened Egoism – Believes that he can best help himself by helping others.
Cause Egoism – Similar except he just pretends to help others.
Relations Between Egoism and Business
- Egoist in an egoist organization
- Egoist in a non-egoist organization
- Non-egoist in an egoist organization
- Non-egoist in a non-egoist organization
Arguments for/against egoist ethics
Arguments for:
* Clarity and Simplicity
* Practicality
* Sincerity
* Unintended consequences
Against:
* Egoism isn’t ethics
* Egoism ignores blatant wrongs
* Psychological egoism in not true
Cultural Relativism
refers to the idea that the values and morality practiced by one community cannot be dismissed as wrong or inferior to those practiced by another community
Cultural Ethics
Like Relativism, it embraces the idea that the morality of business decisions is driven by the practices of the community. It does not however believe that this means there is no traditional moral regulation at all.
- The Culturalist believe that one should follow the guidelines that are in effect wherever you happen to be ….”When in Rome ….”
Advantages and Disadvantages of Culturalist
Ethics
Advantages
* Allows people to be respectful of others and their culture
* Allows businesses to make decisions that are consistent with contemporary reality.
Disadvantages
* The major disadvantage of culturalist ethics is that it doesn’t leave any clear path to making things better.
* There are few routes to resolve conflicts within a society.
Virtue Ethics
concentrates on forming good character and then trusting people to do the right thing.
Discourse Ethics
- Discourse Ethics solves dilemmas by asking those involved to discuss the matter reasonably until they can find a consensual and peaceful solution.
- Biggest advantage – Great latitude in finding a solution. Everything is on the table.
- Drawback – Many of the solutions may not be considered “ethical” under other theories
Ethics of Care
switches the focus of moral regulation from the individual to networks of social relationships.
