“A woman goes into a shop
- she buys a bag of sugar and pays with a hundred dollar
bill, the shopkeeper isn’t best pleased to have to break a hundred dollar bill
– after she has left he notices that the hundred dollar bill
is really two hundred dollar bills stuck together because they are so new
– he has a real
ethical dilemma …...
…...Should he share the hundred with his partner?”
Henny Youngman 1950
What is Moral
Philosophy?
n Moral Philosophy (Ethics) involves
reasoning about questions concerning morality
n Moral philosophy attempts to
discover the extent to which moral rules are justified
What are morals?
n Sets of rules that we ought, or
think we ought, to obey to `do good’.
n Guide to what is ‘right’ or ‘wrong’
n Note that `doing good’ is not always
the same as `doing right’
We can now look at three types of ethical reasoning
n A)
Teleology
n B)
Deontology
n C)
Virtue Ethics
n D)
Rights-Based Approaches
A) Teleology
(from Greek teleos - a goal )
n Examine the logical consequences of
having and following those beliefs
n Actions have no instrinsic ethical
character - they are morally right if they produce a desirable result
n Often called “Consequentialism” as a
result
TWO KEY COMPONENTS - Egoism and Utilitarianism
n 1. EGOISM
n Derivation
of modern concept of ethics in the west is pragmatic
n Hobbes’
Social Contract - in the
absence of a social contract life would be ‘nasty brutish and short’
n action is deemed right/acceptable if
consequences of the act benefit the individual
n Adam Smith 1723-1790
n Self-interest =Foundation Of
Prosperity
n Sub-division= Enlightened Egoism
n
Long-term
View
n
Code
Of Ethics/Conduct
2. UTILITARIANISM
n Jeremy Bentham 1748-1832
n act is justifiable if it attempts to
achieve the greatest good for the greatest number
n John Stuart Mill 1806-1873 “greatest
happiness principle”
n Actions are right in proportion to
their tendency to promote happiness or absence of pain, and wrong insofar as
they tend to produce pain or displeasure
How easy is it to measure “greatest good” or “happiness”?
n cost-benefit analysis
n Aspirin/paracetomol/heroin/
thalidomide other drugs – are toxins or are abused but they bring benefits
which we accept as being more useful than the ill effects
Distinction Between ‘Act’ And ‘Rule’ Utilitarianism
n Act Utilitarianism = assesses each act for the
good it produces
n perform the act that in the
circumstances produces the greatest good - when you have a dilemma about how to
act
n Rule utilitarianism = acts evaluated in terms of their
consistency with other established rules for promoting the greatest good
n person breaking the rule must be
able to justify it
n There is currently a discussion
about torture and whether in torturing a potential terrorist to establish the
whereabouts of a bomb falls into this category
Mercy killing/ assisted suicide
n under rule utilitarianism any
killing would be considered wrong. The rule that murder is wrong and illegal
may be seen to be generally for the greater good.
n under act utilitarianism mercy
killing may be acceptable. Some might consider relief from pain in an
old person to be a “greater good” . Some people would argue that all killing is
wrong and that the rule should obtain. (See deontology below.)
B) Deontology
n “Many people profess to believe that
acting morally, or as we ought to act ,involves the self conscious acceptance
of some (quite specific) constraints on our pursuit of our own interests and on
our pursuit of the general good. Though these people do not regard the
furtherance of our own interests or the pursuit of the general good as ignoble
ends …they believe that neither can be regarded as providing us with morally
sufficient reason to take action. Those who hold such a view believe that there
are certain sorts of acts that are wrong in themselves, and thus morally
unacceptable means to pursue any ends, even ends that are morally admirable or
morally obligatory. Philosophers call such views ‘deontological’ (from the
Greek deon meaning duty)”
n Davis N Contemporary Deontology
Ch.17 in Singer, P. A Companion to Ethics Blackwell Oxford 1997
n This
embodies the idea that the right precedes the good in moral actions.
Immanuel Kant 1724-1804
n humans are rational and autonomous
n humans should judge morality of
actions by ensuring compliance with ‘categorical imperative’
n “Act only according to that maxim by
which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.”
(Kant (1785) Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals)
n Judge the morality of an action by
universalising it
n So can a lie be morally supportable?
n World made up of liars unsupportable
n “The
formula of the end in itself” (Kant)
“Which demands that we treat ‘humanity in your own person or
the person of any other never simply as a means but always at the same time
as and end’
“Kant makes use of the traditional Christian rhetoric and of
Rousseau’s conception of the social contract to formulate the image of a
‘Kingdom of ends’ where each is simultaneously legislator and bound by law,
where each is autonomous, on condition what is legislated is respect for others. For Kant as for
Rousseau, to be autonomous is no mere matter of wilfulness or independence from
others or from social conventions; it is to have the mode of self-control that
takes account of others’ like moral status. To be Kantianly autonomous is to
act morally.”
O’Neil ,O Ch 14 in Singer, P. A Companion to Ethics
Blackwell Oxford 1997
C) VIRTUE ETHICS
n Focus on integrity of moral actor
rather than on the moral act itself. Virtues are not rules.
n Origins with Aristotle
n He defined a virtue as a character
trait which manifests itself in habitual action ie in practice
n This character trait must be
essential to live well
What are some virtues?
n Benevolence,
compassion, courage, courtesy, dependability, friendliness, honesty, loyalty,
moderation, self-control and toleration
n Aristotle
also includes pride and shame - on the basis that we should be proud of our
achievements and properly shamed by our failings
n Aristotle
also included justice as virtue
Aristotle’s Golden Mean
n Avoid
extremes – aim for golden mean between 2 vices eg bravery lies between
cowardice and recklessness
How do Virtue Ethics apply to the business world?
n Solomon
(1992) Ethics and Excellence:
n “The
bottom line of the Aristotelian approach to business ethics is that we have to
get away from `bottom line’ thinking and conceive of business as an essential
part of the good life, living well, getting along with others, having a sense
of self-respect, and being a part of something one can be proud of.”
n Solomon
finds that character traits that lead to success in life are also essential
preconditions in the business world:
n “honest
advertising”
n “truth
in lending”
D) Rights-based Approaches
n Examples given by Mellahi (2010):
n Free speech
n Freedom of association
n To form and join trade unions
n Right to liberty
n Right to vote
n How far are these universal?
Rights and duties
n Where
one person has a right then society or other people have duties
eg if an individual has a right to free speech government has a duty not to
persecute someone for what they say
n Writers
like Nozick (1984) say utilitarianism fails to take account of this
John Rawls
n Utility
might be maximised but some might be seriously disadvantaged eg minority ethnic
groups, women, the poor, the disabled, those with learning difficulties
n A
“just” society is one where violations of rights are minimised
n What
are the rights and duties of companies? We will revisit this when talk about
stakeholders
A Process for making ethical business decisions
n 1. Summarise situation/ dilemma
n 2. List alternative options and
the consequences of each option for all
stakeholders? Support for/against those options?
n 3. Analysis
stage
n corporate/individual values?
n rightness of actions (deontology) or
desirability of outcomes (teleology)? These approaches may counter-balance each
other
n 4. Choice
n business decisions have to be taken
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