Legal Ch.2 Flashcards
Difference Between Law and Ethics
The law dictates how a person must behave. Ethics is how people should behave.
Milton Friedman
Argued that a corporate manager’s primary responsibility is to the shareholders
Stakeholders
Employees, customers, and the communities and countries in which a company operates.
Why be Ethical?
- Society as a whole benefits from ethical behavior
- Ethical Behavior makes people happier
- Ethical behavior provides financial benefits
John Stuart Mill
Wrote Utilitarianism.
A correct decision was one that maximizes overall happiness and minimizes overall pain, thereby producing the greatest net benefit.
Immanuel Kant
Deontological thinker: The duty to do the right thing, regardless of the result.
Immanual Kant believed in:
Categorical imperative: An act is only ethical if it would be acceptable for everyone to do the same thing.
John Rawls
Referred to life prospects as the circumstances into which we are born.
John Rawls argued that we should think about:
The veil of ignorance: The rules for society that we would propose if we did not know how lucky we would be in life’s lottery.
Front Page Test
When faced with a decision, think about how you would feel if your actions went viral.
Moral Universalism
A belief that some acts are always right or always wrong.
Moral Relativism
A belief that a decision may be right even if it is not in keeping with one’s own ethical standards.
Ethics Traps
- Money
- Competition
- Rationalization
- Can’t be objective about ourselves
- Moral Licensing
- Conflicts of Interest
- Conformity
- Following others
- Euphemisms and Reframing
- Lost in the crowd
- Short term perspective
- Blind spots
Reacting to Unethical Behavior
- Loyalty
- Exit
- Voice
