Business Ethics and Social Responsibility

Purpose of life is the pursuit of virtues

Socrates

3 characteristics of the Highest Good

• desirable for itself

• not desirable for the sake of another Good

• all other goods are desirable for its sake

Hierarchies

• Hierarchy of the highest good

• Hierarchy of souls

• Hierarchy of reality

the human soul

Acquired habits are the only thing we can exert our soul over

Intelligible Realm

Actions won’t perfectly match the virtue

Aristotle’s Theory

Virtue Ethics = Nichomachean Ethics

Plato

Forms - an ideal concept that helps us understand reality

Aristotle

Nichomachean Ethics, virtue ethics/theory

Moral Skeptics/Relativists

No such thing as ethics, do whatever you want

Aristotle

There is a moral truth, Ethical thought CAN arrive at the answer

Immanuel Kant

1/3 enlightenment philosophers, kantianism and deontological ethics. people are rational agents.

Normative Ethical Thought

Kantianism. is moral truth, is moral obligation

Categorical Imperatives

Reason, Universal Moral Laws, Duty, An individuals desires, happiness, personal gain

Maxims

subject “I”, action, motivation. I will lie for personal gain.

Kant

Reason/logic is the key to universal goodness

Kant

“people are not means to an end, but ends in and of themselves” protection from an individual being victimized, consent and agreement

The Heroic Sacrifice Problem

Chernobyl, I will sacrifice my life to save others

The Underground Railroad Problem

Error in logic - begging the question

Jeremy Bentham

2/3 enlightenment philosophers. Utiltarianism

John Stuart Mill

3/3 enlightenment. Advocate for liberty and freedom of the individual

Jeremy Bentham’s View

• humans are driven by 2 forces: interests and fears

• interests carry more weight than fears in decision making

Bentham’s definition of happiness

Maximize pleasure, minimize pain

Mill’s Concept of Utility

moral decisions produce utility in 2 forms, personal and social

Utility’s 2 traits for making moral decisions

• it is a good, which every person desires

• it is quantifiable, meaning it can be aggregated good vs bad

• measured in utiles

utilitarianism

does not claim there is a moral truth

Heroic Sacrifice Problem

if everyone sacrifices themselves, there is no one left to be saved

Aristotle

moral truth

Kant

moral turn and obligation

The Greatest Happiness Principle

principle from utilitarianism, maximize utility, needs a key for utiles

Organ Harvesting

Error in logic 2/3 - Slipper slope. if it becomes normal to kidnap someone to harvest their organs. Change fabric of society - worse off

Normative

Kant

Utilitarianism

Rawls

Non-normative

Aristotle (single answer)

Critical Theory

Global ethics

A Theory of Justice

Rawls’ book. “justice as fairness”

Kant v. Mill - Liberty v. Equality

Kantianism - strengths: equality, weakness: liberty/freedom

Utilitarianism - strengths: liberty/freedom, weakness: equality

Rawls Methods

• social contract

• thought experiment - original position, veil of ignorance

• Congress

The original position

we lose our characteristics behind veil of ignorance

Veil of Ignorance

Bring people to a congress.

Remember we are human, part of a society, that society has inequalities

Forget our characteristics (job, race, gender, etc.)

Effect of veil of ignorance

people will be risk averse bc of self-interest, congress will select 2 or 3 principles that shape society (in form of a social contract)

The Greatest Equal Liberty Principle

free as possible, without infringing on others’ freedoms

Equal opportunity principle

“offices and positions”, meritocracy

The difference principle

maximin decision making - make the worst possible outcome as good as we can

Normative Ethics goals

• to provide absolute answers, single answer

• Internally consistent and self-evident —- raised by wolves

Critical Theory

Descriptive, not proscriptive. Pierre Bordieu

Bordieu’s Opposition

The Objectivist View - '“walk through social space”

Error in logic 3/3

Objectivist view — bc more comparisons leads to more differences

Symbolic capital

Folk categories have symbols attached to them

• pope wears a large hat, pope is symbol for catholic church

• the pentagon can refer to US military

outward and inward function

Max Horkheimer goals

critique and change society

traditional theory

understanding and explaining society

Confucius and Laozi

Spring and Autumn Period

Confucius - Analects

moral exemplars - the Sage

Laozi

Taoism. Obscurity of fact v. legend

Tao Te Ching - collection of his teachings, author unknown

Character Ethics

Yoruba: iwa, inner ethical character.

A person is evaluated by the nature, good or bad, of their iwa

Buddhist teachings

Examples of “spectacular altruism” for followers to emulate and admire. SAME as Confucius (moral exemplars)

Oaths in Buddhism

5 precepts for lay person: refrain from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, drunkeness

Oaths - Vows of Individual Liberation

Monastic orders: ban all forms of sexual activity, regulations for monastic etiquette