Exam 1 (Days 2-6) Flashcards
Pyramid of Success
Integrity
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Leadership - Knowledge
Integrity
The willingness to conduct one’s self in accord with principles that promote fairness to all
Business Ethics
the study of how to property use one’s economic and professional power with integrity
Ethics
the study of integrity
Cheating
the giving of less than fairly due while expecting the same reward as those who gave what was due
Moral Misconduct
in this, one, in their conduct as a member of a community causes harm to another person or persons
Ethical Misconduct
in this, one, in their professional conduct, causes harm to another person or persons
Lawful Misconduct
in this, one engages in an act that is prohibited by a statute
Statute
a written law
The three entities (players in the field of existence) are:
The self (me as a mind, person, or soul)
Humanity (social structures)
The world (everything not human)
The self
the
Existential question
What is the true self in philosophy: the mind
Humanity
the Sociological question
of or pertaining to the dynamics of informal and formal human institutions
Families – schools – communities – states
Religions – clubs – etc.
The world
the ontological question
The study of being – what it means to say something exists or is real
Empirical
That which is known to the senses
Idealism
The view that only the mind’s reconstruction of the world
creates objects
How should the self relate to the self?
the self-discipline question
How should I as “I think” relate to my bodily self as “I feel” in all its forms?
How should the self relate to humanity?
The ethological question
How should I, as an individual, relate to others within my surrounding social arrangements?
Ethology: The study of moral & ethical values
Philanthropy
Love of humanity
How should the self relate to the world?
the axiological question OR the teleological question
How should I prioritize what I value in the array of goods offered by my surroundings?
Axiology: Value Theory
The study of values and how value judgments are made.
What is good and what goods should be seen as higher than others?
Teleology: The study of purpose in life
How should humanity relate to the self?
The justice question
How should I, when representative of a social institution, relate to individuals?
How should humanity relate to humanity?
The political question
Diplomacy goes here
How should I, when representative of a social institution, relate to other social institutions?
How should humanity
relate to the world?
The custodial question
The environmental question
How should I, when representative of a social institution, relate to its physical environment?
Ethical Relativism
The view that only personal opinion, the traditions of one’s society and the circumstances of the present moment define one’s ethical principles
Ground
A statement or set of statements
(claims or principles)
That can be held as incontestably valid.
E. O. Wilson’s Sociobiology thesis
Ethics has its roots in nature.
- Harvard University
Immanuel Kant
believed that our ethical views are driven by the way our minds make sense of the world.
all humans think alike and reason in the same way.
he saw knowledge not as something self-based but as human based
Nomology
the study of the laws governing the workings of the mind.
Kant’s Categorical Imperative
Never do anything to others that you would not want them to have a legal right to do you, without exception.
Kant’s Ethical Ground
We know what is proper and improper by the way our minds make sense of the world.
Deontology
The view that ethics can have its ground in rules or a universal rule
Maxim
a rule
Categorical
without exception
Kant’s ethical perspective
Fairness is to be found in the way the mind makes sense of things.
The Golden Rule
Treat others in the same way you want to be treated.
This is the historical ground for all moral judgment.
The Principle of Consent
Do not do to others that which does not have their permission.
Deceptive Practices
consent is denied because one is led to believe they are agreeing to one thing when, in fact, they are agreeing to another.
Social Contract Theory (No harm principle)
The view that there is within human nature an unwritten law requiring we do not harm each other
- Do no harm to others
Contracts
exist to regulate the interactions between two or more people
Implicit Agreement
A commonly held expectation between two parties based on the circumstances.
These agreements are unwritten and unspoken and held by everyone in the culture; so no one feels that they need to be said.
Humaneness
Compassion for other human beings or animals
John Locke
in his Two Treatises of Government argued that government should not detract from the state of nature rights of life and liberty.
This view is dependent upon the
Social contract working in nature.
Jean Jacques Rousseau
in his book called: Social Contract, saw society as corrupting our state of nature innocence.
Thomas Hobbes
- said: Good institutions allow men to trade their state of nature rights, which like animal rights only create a world that is: “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short,” for a cooperative world which will make them better off.
- He argued all kings must meet their end of the social contract by obeying the dictum: The safety of the people is the supreme law. (Hobbes saw security as a more fundamental need than liberty and believed all citizens should give their guns to the king.)
- Lived during the English Civil War
- Authored the Leviathan
- believed incorrect moral views were the cause of the civil war (Oliver Cromwell). The leviathan was to show men how to create an acceptable government
Thomas Hobbes’ Social Contract
Self-interest requires each citizen to give his natural rights to his king in exchange for a secure and orderly society.
John Stewart Mill
- took the passive point of view in
J. S. Mill’s “no harm” principle - the social contract need go no further than a commitment to not endanger the well-being of others
Six Important
Social Justice Concepts
Equal opportunity Open communication Mutual respect Nondiscrimination Due process rights Fair accommodation
Dilemma
A mental state characterized by the recognition that the solution to a problem at hand will expose another.
can either be
practical or ethical
A practical dilemma
The realization that doing one thing which will benefit you or your company will cause you to lose an equal amount from another activity or opportunity.
The three elements defining
a practical Dilemma
- It is always all about “me” or “us.”
- Right and wrong is defined only in terms of potential rewards and punishments to the self or firm.
- Cost vs. benefit to “me” or “us” is used to arrive at the final decision.
Three examples of a
practical ground
- The company needs to be profitable
- State law must be followed
- Reputation for quality is important
A Practical Virtue
An ability to perform a task that primarily rewards the one who performs it
An ethical dilemma
The realization that doing the right thing for one legitimate stakeholder will cause you to do the wrong thing for another.
The three elements defining
an ethical Dilemma
- It is always about all stakeholders.
- Right and wrong is defined in terms of duty to others, society, profession, and one’s word.
- The maximization of fairness to all concerned is used to arrive at the final decision.
Three examples of an
Ethical ground
- The CFA (charter financial analyst) Code of Conduct must be followed
- The WVU Social Justice Statement
- The unwritten rules of proper civility that all of you use everyday
An Ethical Virtue
A willingness to perform a task that primarily rewards others
Social contract (ground)
(e.g. Consent – No harm – and Compassion) is an example of ground.
Fundamental Rights
Protections widely recognized as properly belonging to every person.
These are also called: Inalienable Rights, state of nature rights, and human rights.
Harmless Rights
Rights that exists without cost, harm, or potential harm to other persons.
Entitlement
The view that the rights of others are defined by the limits of one’s own power.
Society’s create rights by limiting the powers one’s fellow citizens can have.
This limiting takes the form of law.
economic rights
governments limit individual power through taxation, taking from those who have and giving to those who have less; this grants such rights as access to food, housing, education, clothing, cell phones, etc.
State of Nature Rights
Those things that one would have were there no government.
life – liberty – pursuit of happiness
The Problem of Right (1)
All rights, even state of nature rights, can only exist if granted by a provider.
An injured animal in a state of nature has no doctor to give it the right to live. Its own body must provide the right.
The Problem of Right (2)
For every right there exists a responsibility without which the right cannot exist.
It follows that our fundamental rights can only exist if someone takes the responsibility to provide them.
Provider
Any entity which produces a good
End-in-itself?
a person, something which desires goods but is not a good itself
Hedonism
the view that pleasure and happiness are the highest goods
Epicurism
The view the purpose of life is to serve the self with good health, refined living, and longevity
Maximalism
the view that any proper action is worthy of being carried out to its fullest extent
Friedrich Nietzsche’s
The Birth of Tragedy
This invites us to consider humanity as being eternally torn between two extremes, Dionysian hedonism and the purity of Apollonian idealism
Parties and Productivity cannot co-exist. It is either one or the other.
Aristotle’s interpretation of friendship
[Free market] provider relationships form the ground for human bonding
Ethics is pragmatic
Supererogation
To give the performance of a duty more than expected by others.
Responsibility creates rights!
