Kantian Ethics & Business Ethics

• Treat people as ends, never as a means

• Focus on autonomy and rationality

• Need to balance interest of the company and the individual e.g. lying to customers about the benefit of a product so they buy it; not paying employees a fair wage to produce cheaper products - the company needs to act morally

Supports CSR (Cooperate Social Responsibility)

• Categorical imperative emphasises importance of truth and promise keeping

• We must follow our contract and keep the promises we have made to business employees etc - whistleblowing usually breaks this. However the company have also made promises to treat employees specific ways, so if they break this promise, whistleblowing could be ethical

• Treating people as ends is important - if a company is not doing this there may be a greater sense of duty and so it might be that promise that needs to be broken

Debatable on Whistleblowing

• Often lead to actions which go against the categorical imperative - cannot be universalised, do not treat people as ends in themselves and would not be accepted in a Kingdom of Ends

• Need autonomy to be moral but many are unable to be free due to globalisation, e.g. accepting a job in a bad factory as you will earn money

• Business should be done for the good of others/out of duty, not with the sole intention of profit

Supports good ethics is good business (Globalisation)

• The same principles should apply in every situation - good ethics as good business is a good rule

• Business is generally motivated by self-interest: Kant encourages good ethics, which treat others as an end and can be universalised

• Is it possible in business to treat everyone as an end? Can stakeholders and shareholders both be treated well by every decision? This seems unrealistic and too ideal

Supports Good Ethics is Good Business