Business Ethics

Business ethics requirements

1. arranging values to guide decisions 2. understanding the facts 3. constructing arguments

virtue

=integrity (most valued traits as a manager) is more of an acquired skill: something you need to work at, practice, and hone

advantages of altruism

Clarity and simplicity Acceptability Flexibility Uncertainty about the happiness of others Shortchanging yourself

rights in conflict

I have negative rights to life, freedom, and my possessions but they infringe on your rights to the same I have a right to freedom and to do what I want but that right clashes with larger, society-level protections put into place to assure everyone a reasonable shot at pursuing their happiness

disadvantages of cultural ethics

It doesn't leave any clear path to making things better It provides few routes to resolving conflicts within a society

ethical egoism

It is the belief that an action is morally right if the action's consequences are more beneficial than unfavorable for the person who acts Egoism means putting your welfare above others' Selfishness is the refusal to see beyond yourself

sincerity

The ability to reveal yourself to others with confidence that you'll be respected

cultural relativism

The suspicion that values and morality are culture specific and not the result of universal reason There's no way to dismiss one set of rules as wrong or inferior to those developed in another culture

Utilitarian monster

Utilitarian monster: An individual capable of feeling disproportionately high sensations of pleasure and happiness, one who consequently requires many others to sacrifice their happiness in the name of maximizing net happiness

anti virtues

cowardice insensibility

What justifies a right?

rights are part of the logic of the universe deriving rights from the idea of duties

argument

showing how given facts, one action serves specific values better than other actions in business

immediate conventions

standards and pressure applied by family and friends

impersonal altruism

the belief that everyone should practice an altruistic ethics

normative ethics

the discussion about what ought to be done how people "ought" to act

abstract conventions

the law and mass social customs

right to religious expression

within a rights ethical theory, the guarantee that individuals may express religious beliefs freely, assuming their acts don't encroach upon of others

rguments against ethical egoism

Egoism isn't ethics Egoism ignores blatant wrongs Psychological egoism is not true

Soft utilitarianism

Frequently referred to simply as utilitarianism, it's the ethical belief that an act is recommendable if it increases net happiness (or decreases net unhappiness) when everyone is taken into account

ethics of care

Making the nurturing of our immediate communities and the protecting of those closest to us the highest moral obligation Ethics is not about me and you, it's about us Ethical tensions aren't about my rights versus yours, it's about me being torn between those I care for

positive rights

Obligations others have to help protect and preserve my basic, negative rights

duty to respect others

The duty to tell the truth and not leave anything important out

Hedonistic utilitarianism

Utilitarianism seeking to maximize any and all sensations of happiness and pleasure

Idealistic utilitarianism

Utilitarianism seeking to maximize sensations of happiness and pleasure connected with intellectual life and culture

chapter 2 Do the means justify the ends, or do the ends justify the means?

its hard to get oriented in ethics without making a preliminary decision between these two

Business ethics

providing reasons for how things ought to be in the economic world

Advantages and Disadvantages of Utilitarian Ethics in Business

quanification apparent injustices

ends

the goals you want to reach, as distinct from what you need to do to reach them

metaethics

the study of the origin and rules of ethics and morality concerns the origin of the entire discussion

descriptive ethics

the study of what people actually do and why business ethics is normative how people actually are acting

postmodernism

the suspicion that no single ethical code is indisputably right

civility

the virtue of habitually being and expressing yourself in a way that establishes your presence without threatening or impinging on others

vices

they produce a sensation of unease immoral or wicked behavior evil

perennial duties

those specific requirements for action that have subsisted through history

marketplace

understood in ethical terms, it is enforcement of rules for behavior by economic reality

characteristics of rights

universal equal inalienable

means

what you do in order to reach a goal

duty to honesty

The duty to tell the truth and not leave anything important out

Simplicity

basic rights are fairly easy to understand and apply

2 extreme views of the business world

1. business needs policing because its a dirty enterprise featuring people who get ahead by being selfish liars 2. successful business work well to enrich society, and business ethicists are interfering and annoying scolds threatening to ruin economic welfare conclusion: its not true that doing business equals being deceitful, so its false to assert that business ethics is necessary to cure the ills of commerce it is true that the business world may be left to control its own excesses through

Nietzsche's Eternal Return of the Same

A thought experiment in which you imagine what you would do if the life you chose to lead now will have to be repeated forever According to the eternal return, when faced with a dilemma in the business world—what career should I choose, should I kill (or maybe just lie or cheat) to get ahead?—you should imagine living the decision over and over again forever. Within the eternal return, there is no reward of morality

Selflessness

Acting without regard for one's own well-being

social contract

An agreement made between people to act in certain ways not because the acts are themselves good or bad, but because the rules for action are mutually beneficial

Chapter 3 Consequentialism

An ethics focused on the results of actions, not the actions themselves

Global ethics

An ethics taking into account everyone affected by an act, now and in the future

Utilitarian sacrifice

An individual whose happiness is sacrificed in order to increase the happiness of others

theoretical wisdom

As a virtue, it's both the ability to learn high-level, theoretical knowledge and the accumulated possession of that knowledge

practical wisdom/prudence

As a virtue, it's the learned ability to respond to difficult situations intelligently, calmly, and prudently

Advantages and Drawbacks of an Ethics Based on Rights

Centering ethics on the individual leaves little space of agreement about how we can live together Doesn't do a lot to help us resolve our differences It does little to promote tolerance Offers few guarantees that if I do something beneficial for you now, you'll do something beneficial for me later on Right conflict

cause egoism

Giving the false appearance of being concerned with the welfare of others in order to advance one's own interests

advantages of culturalist ethics

It allows people to be respectful of others and their culture It adapts well to contemporary reality

Advantages and Drawbacks of an Ethics Based on Rights

It clears a broad space for you and me and everyone else to be ourselves or make ourselves in any way we choose Simplicity - Basic rights are fairly easy to understand and apply

personal altruism

Practicing an altruistic ethics without regard for what others are doing or should do

personal egosim

Practicing an ethics of egoism without regard for what others are doing or should do

Rational egoism

Subscribing to ethical egoism because it's the most reasonable of the ethical theories, the one a perfectly rational person would choose

Altruism (selflessness)

The belief that an action is morally right if the action's consequences increase net happiness (or decrease net unhappiness) when everything is taken into account except the actor's increased or diminished happiness EVERYONE ELSE

enlightened egoism

The belief that benefitting others—acting to increase their happiness—can serve the egoist's self-interest just as much as the egoist's acts directly in favor of him or herself

impersonal egoism

The belief that everyone should practice ethical of egoism

Psychological egoism

The belief that we're all necessarily egoists; it's an inescapable part of what it means to be human

duty to avoid wronging others

The duty to treat others as you would like to be treated by them

Utilitarianism

The ethical belief that an act is recommendable if it brings the greatest good to the greatest number, if it increases net happiness—or decreases net unhappiness—when everyone is taken into account

Hard utilitarianism

The ethical belief that an act is recommendable if it increases net happiness (or decreases net unhappiness) when everyone is taken into account and when the total benefit is more than any other possible act

invisible hand

The force of marketplace competition that encourages or even requires individuals who want to make money to make the lives of others better in the process

veil of ignorance

The idea that when you set up rules for resolving dilemmas, you don't get to know beforehand which side of the rules you will fall on By being ignorant of our circumstances, we can more objectively consider how societies should operate. can help us decide more fairly how the rules of society should be structured

discourse

The method of resolving ethical dilemmas by gathering involved parties and asking them to discuss the matter reasonably until a consensual and peaceful solution is found When a dilemma is faced, those involved gather and try to talk it out Advantage It opens the door all the way in the search for solutions - This gives those involved just about the best hope possible for a resolution benefitting everyone joined in the discussion

Monetized utilitarianism

The reduction of happiness and sadness to monetary values within a utilitarian ethics

cultural ethics

The theory that moral doctrines are only the rules a community believes, and acting in a way that's ethically recommendable means learning and following those local guidelines Doing the right thing within a culturalist framework does not rely on traditional ethical theories The best approach is to get in touch with the locals and try to do as they would in the same situation neither true nor false

negative rights

Those rights that require others to not interfere with me and whatever I'm doing

universal action

Within Kant's theory of the categorical imperative, an action that could be carried out by everyone all the time

welfare rights

Within a rights ethical theory, obligations society holds to provide minimal conditions allowing individuals their free pursuit of happiness

right to possession

Within a rights ethical theory, the guarantee that individuals and organizations may earn freely and keep what they have made

right to pursue happiness

Within a rights ethical theory, the guarantee that individuals may seek happiness any way they like, assuming they don't encroach upon the freedom of others

libertarianism

Within ethical theory, the acceptance of basic rights as the providers of moral guidance, with emphasis attached to the right to our possessions and the fruits of our work

right

a justified claim against others liberating in nature they're about assuring that you're as free as possible individual oriented Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people, according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical theory.

advantages of eternal return

adds gravity to life makes you take decisions seriously forces you to make your own decisions

Categorical imperative

an ethical rule that does not depend on circumstances Treat people as an end, and never as a means to an end people as ends not means people not be used as instruments to get something else objection: sounds goods in the abstract, but when you think about how it would actually work, things become difficult

virtue ethics

concentrates on forming good character and then trusting people to do the right thing Provide education about the virtues Provide experience using the virtues DO WHATS RIGHT! the only route to becoming virtuous is to actually is to actually live those ways

morals

direct rules we ought to follow morality is the rules

disadvantages of eternal return

does little to help individuals live together in a community

origin of duties

duties are written into the nature of the universe, they're part of the way things are The sense that part of what it means to be human is to have this particular sense of right and wrong

duties to the self

duty to develop our abilities and talents: the ethical duty to our selves, requiring us to respect our innate abilities-especially the exemplary ones-by working them out to their full potential

duty to others

ethical responsibilities for others

duty to ourselves

ethical responsibilities we hold to ourselves, determining how we live and treat ourselves

preconventional behavior

is about people calculating to get what they want efficiently: decisions are made in accordance with raw self-interest

ethics of full adulthood

requires good reasoning and experience in the real world

duty to reparation

the duty to compensate others when we harm them

duty to fidelity

the duty to keep our promises and hold up our end of bargains These duties apply to actions that have previously been undertaken, e.g. faithfulness to contracts; promises; truth telling and redressing wrongs (sometimes referred to as the 'duties of reparation' and classified separately).

duty to beneficence

the duty to promote others' welfare so far as it is possible reasonable Beneficent actions can be taken to help prevent or remove harms or to simply improve the situation of others

duty of gratitude

the duty to thank and remember those who help us

fairness

the duty to treat equals equally and unequals unequally Free from bias, dishonesty, or injustice. *faeirness doesn't mean everyone gets the same treatment; it means that rules for treating people must be applied equally

duty to ourselves no harm

the ethical duty to ourselves, requiring us to respect our being by not harming or abusing ourselves

conventional stages

the idea of what one will do separate from what one wants

duty

the moral obligation to perform an act that is right, regardless or the consequences

facts

the people and things involved in a decision in business ethics

ethics

the production of morals ethics is the making of rules

consistency principle

the requirement that similar people in similar situations be treated in similar ways