Business Ethics Reviewer Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, philosophical figures, ethical frameworks, and Philippine business context from the Business Ethics Reviewer.

Philia

The Greek word meaning "love" that forms the first half of the etymological origin of philosophy.

Sophia

The Greek word meaning "wisdom" that forms the second half of the term philosophy.

Metaphysics

The specific branch of philosophy that explicitly answers the question, "What is the nature of reality?"

Epistemology

The specific branch of philosophy that raises deep questions about the nature, scope, and validity of human knowledge.

Ethics

The subcategory of axiology that addresses the study of human conduct, moral standards, and the core rules governing an individual or group.

Accounting ethics

The term for the application of ethics that directly guides the professional conduct and rules of financial recorders and auditors.

The subject matter that ethics investigates

The specific dictionary definition of morality that sets it apart from ethics as the material subject matter being examined.

Socrates

The classic philosopher who famously stated that "The unexamined life is not worth living" in his defense of critical thought.

Aristotle

The classic philosopher who famously stated that "He who has never learned to obey cannot be a good commander".

Confucius

The eastern philosopher credited with the quote, "Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated".

Existentialism

The dynamic philosophical movement that appeared as a structural revolt against purely mathematical and scientific philosophies, featuring thinkers like Sartre and Heidegger.

The Vienna Circle

The modern analytical framework established in the post-WWI era that introduced the rigid concepts of logical positivism to critique metaphysical claims.

Deductive logic

The specific type of logic that moves systematically from general principles, axioms, or definitions to specific conclusions.

Inductive logic

The specific type of logic that moves systematically from narrow, specific observations to broad, general facts.

Idealism

The philosophical strand considered the oldest philosophy of Western culture, which holds that moral values are objective and that reason is primary.

Realism

The strand of philosophy considering the universe to exist whether the mind perceives it or not, counting Aristotle as its primary proponent.

Pragmatism

The contemporary philosophy historically known as experimentalism, which defines truth by the practical experience of things that work.

Nicomachean Ethics

The highly influential ancient Greek text widely viewed as the first systematic and comprehensive treatment of ethics in Western civilization.

Charmides, Laches, and Euthyphro

The trio of specific dialogic texts written by Plato that respectively explore the early virtues of temperance, courage, and piety.

Eudaimonia

The ultimate end, purpose, or goal of human life according to Aristotle, which translates to happiness or holistic human flourishing.

Activity of performing

The exact translation of the Aristotelian concept energeia, which describes the active performance of moral actions rather than a static state of being.

Summa Theologiae

The specific historic collection written by Thomas Aquinas during the 13th century that consolidated early Christian theology and Aristotelian ethics.

Ambrose of Milan

The 4th-century church figure who initially coined the specific label "cardinal virtues" to describe courage, moderation, justice, and prudence.

Angelic Doctor

The highly celebrated medieval theologian and philosopher who was officially proclaimed by the Catholic Church as the "Angelic Doctor".

Milan

The specific city where St. Augustine worked as a municipal professor of rhetoric in 384 AD before his major conversion.

Tagaste

The birthplace and province in North Africa where St. Augustine was born to a Christian mother named St. Monica.

Hortensius

The specific philosophical text written by Cicero that directly inspired St. Augustine's early youth to search for absolute truth.

Manichaeism

The dualistic philosophy featuring cosmic principles of light and darkness that St. Augustine adhered to for nine years prior to embracing Christianity.

Jeremy Bentham

The 18th-century philosopher who fully developed the early systems of utilitarianism by proposing that we mathematically tally pleasure and pain.

Act-utilitarianism

The alternative name for standard utilitarianism that evaluates the moral worth of an action strictly on a case-to-case basis.

Ideal utilitarianism

The utilitarian variation proposed by G.E. Moore that involves tallying any consequence recognized as good or bad, rather than just pleasure or pain.

Rule-utilitarianism

The utilitarian variant that offers a three-tiered method for judging moral actions based on the long-term consequences of adopting a generalized rule.

Immanuel Kant

The 18th-century philosopher to whom we owe the largely deontological branch of ethical theory based on universal rational principles.

Duty ethics

The popular alternative name given to Kantian ethics due to its focus on unconditional directives and moral obligations.

Categorical imperative

The fundamental, unconditional moral command formulated by Immanuel Kant that demands an action's maxim be willed as a universal law.

Alasdair MacIntyre

The contemporary philosopher who championed the modern resurgence of character ethics through the ground-breaking book After Virtue.

Elizabeth Anscombe

The contemporary scholar who pioneered the mid-20th-century resurgence of virtue ethics through the essay "Modern Moral Philosophy".

Financialization

The specific financial vice that arises under Aristotelian virtue ethics when money-making transforms into an absolute end in itself.

Communio personarum

The Latin phrase meaning a "community of persons" used to describe how business organizations should operate humanely.

Tama

The specific component pair in the Filipino language that explicitly denotes what is right or correct in everyday actions.

Bawal

The specific component pair in the Filipino language that denotes what is prohibited, forbidden, or illegal in trade and business settings.

Pakikisama

The tagalog term describing the smooth interpersonal relationships or peer-ship prioritized by Filipinos to avoid open confrontation.

Moral numbness

The specific cultural challenge in the Philippines describing a crept-in state of moral numbness and indifference toward systemic public corruption.

Kasalanan

The specific Tagalog term for "sin" or religious wrongdoing that underpins the moral psyche and judgments of the Filipino workforce.

Mabuting gawa

The Tagalog term for "virtuous action" or a conscious, deliberate good deed performed in accordance with God's will.

Seventh and Tenth

The specific section of the Decalogue (Ten Commandments) that holds special structural incidence for business ethics regarding property rights and theft.

Republic Act 3019

The specific Republic Act number known as the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act in the Philippines.

The Family Code of the Philippines

The specific Philippine legal statute whose Article 209 explicitly mandates parental authority, rights, and duties over unemancipated children.

Yellow Boat of Hope Foundation

The foundation that started as a national movement to help children who used to swim to school in Brgy. Talon-Talon, Zamboanga City.

Economy of Communion

The specific project launched in Brazil in 1991 to propose a business ethos centered on dividing enterprise profits into three structural parts.

Bangko Kabayan

The name of the specific local Economy of Communion bank flourishing as a major micro-finance asset in the Philippines.

Tony Meloto

The award-winning Catholic entrepreneur who founded Gawad Kalinga to build communities through volunteerism and the spirit of solidarity.

Third sector

The socio-economic sector comprising voluntary organizations and initiatives that belong neither to the traditional public nor private for-profit sectors.

Consequentialism

The general ethical paradigm focused completely on outcomes, results, and the "maximization of shareholder wealth".

Distributive justice

The subcategory of justice that focuses heavily on the morally correct, fair distribution of social benefits and burdens across a community.

Compensatory justice

The subcategory of justice that deals with providing fair compensation to individuals for past corporate harms or personal injuries suffered.

Right

An individual's just claim or entitlement to something, which can be interpreted as the absolute absence of prohibitions.

Legal rights

The specific type of rights that are defined by a system of laws, as opposed to moral rights which are based on ethical standards.

The individual within the corporation

The specific structural level of analysis in business ethics that focuses on the individual within the corporation, rather than the enterprise system.

A Theory of Moral Sentiments

The foundational text written by Adam Smith that outlines business behavior and notes that an impartial observer must sympathize with your actions.