Business Ethics Midterm Review

These flashcards cover key concepts from business ethics, including various ethical theories and principles.

Descriptive Ethics

An approach that seeks to explain how people behave morally, often informed by social science.

Normative Ethics

Focuses on establishing rules or standards of behavior, asking what we ought to do.

Relativism

The view that moral truths are relative to cultural norms and practices; moral judgments vary across different cultures.

Utilitarianism

An ethical theory suggesting that the best action is the one that maximizes overall happiness or pleasure.

Deontology

An ethical theory that emphasizes duties and rules; morality is based on adherence to rules rather than consequences.

Psychological Egoism

The claim that humans are fundamentally self-interested and act in accordance with their own self-interest.

Ethical Egoism

The normative belief that individuals should act in their own best interest.

Kant's Categorical Imperative

A central tenet of Kantian ethics that commands individuals to act only according to that maxim which they can will to become a universal law.

Virtue Ethics

An ethical approach that emphasizes character and the virtues one should cultivate rather than strict adherence to rules or consequences.