Chapter 1 Ethics and the Law

Kropotkin introduces two human forces

1. Energy and 2. Justice. Energy is found in a society that manages to redirect the collective human will toward the welfare of the entire species instead of toward individual or corporate survival measure only by monetary gain. Justice is present when all people are treated equally based on intangible qualities, not monetary.

Hobbes says that humans have 2 core rights that cannot be sacrificed

1. The right to live and 2. the right to live in peach and security.

Proponents of this position justify cost-benefit thinking in three ways

1. the profits to the shareholders come first, 2. it would be unfair to divert funds that belong to the shareholders to activities that do not directly benefit the shareholders, and 3. a corporation's managers are accountable to the shareholders and to no one else.

the government of a nation has two objectives

1. to protect its own existence and 2. to protect the lives health and well-being of its own citizens.

Using utility thinking

A corporate manager simply looks at an action and asks whether the benefit to the shareholders will outweigh the cost to the corporation.

responsibility to protect (R2P)

A new doctrine that declares the leadership of every nation has a definitive duty to protect its own people from four major threats: genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity.

penumbra rights

A set of human rights that are found in those indeterminate or indistinct shadow areas associated with more uniformly accepted rights, such as the right to a safe and secure life.

law

A set of rules created by the governing body of a society to maintain harmony, stability, and justice in that society.

prescriptive theory

A system of ethical thought that describes how to come up with the values at work within a social system.

descriptive theory

A system of ethical thought that describes the values at work within a social system.

Utilitarianism

A system of ethical thought that focuses on the consequences of an action. It is an ethical theory that says that the morality of an action is determined by its ultimate effects.

Natural Law Theory

A system of ethical thought that sees an unbreakable link joining the law and morality.

rational ethics

A system of ethical thought that uses reason as the basis for making ethical judgments.

cost-benefit thinking

A system of thought that focuses on the consequences to one person or institution and then weighs the cost against the benefits of performing the action under scrutiny.

Dyad

A two-level system of morality, represented by the "ethic of ultimate ends" for individuals and the "ethic of responsibility" for national leaders.

Appretiare

According to Kropotkin, it is doing one's duty in a cooperative and nonselfish way, creating harmony in the society, evoking thanks and appreciation from other members of that society, and giving each person a feeling of self-worth that goes way beyond anything that mere money can do.

Author who wrote about reprogramming human nature with genetically ground and behavioral-based processes in the book Brave New World

Aldous Huxley

ethic of responsibility

An ethical principle developed by the 20th-century political philosopher Max Weber that holds that a leader's primary ethical guide must be the safety and security of the people of his or her nation-state.

ethic of ultimate ends

An ethical principle, often referred to as the ethic of benevolence, developed by the 20th-century political philosopher Max Weber, that holds that individuals must act with compassion toward people without regard to the consequences.

What theoretical philosopher stated that no one, not even the former enemies of capitalism can escape the influence of corporate power

Herbert Marcuse

What German philosopher is recognized as constricting the theory of rational ethics in his book Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals

Immanuel Kant

social contract ethics

In ethics, a theory that says that right and wrong are measured by the obligations imposed on each individual by an implied agreement among individuals within a given social system. People must give up certain rights and freedoms to live in harmony.

positive law

In ethics, the theory that says that laws originate from an outside source that emerges within society.

ultimate ends vs responsibility

In ultimate ends the individuals practice this because they never completely foresee the ends of their actions, so they must obey absolute moral precepts such as turn the other cheek despite the fact that the ultimate consequences of those actions are unclear or uncomfortable. On the other hand, the ethic of responsibility demands that the moral actor must consider his or her responsibilities to those people who depend on that leader for safety and security. In other words they cant turn the other cheek because innocent lives will be lost that they are entrusted with protecting.

Who wrote "Individualism old and new, the pragmatic"

John Dewey

Who wrote "A new pattern for a tired world"

Louis Bromfield

who wrote Politics as a vocation

Max Weber

Russian intellectuals that believes in anarchy due to believing human nature is cooperative instead of competitive unlike Hobbes and Madison

Peter Kropotkin & Jean Jacques Rousseau

ethics

Rules of conduct that transcend legal rules, telling people how to act when the law does not.

failed states

States in which the government has completely collapsed or has become so ineffective that it can no longer provide sustenance or security for its own people.

unstable states

States in which the government suppresses its own people thus inviting a future revolt that might destabilize a region.

what English author is credited with formulating the modern version of social contract ethics in his book Leviathan (1651)

Thomas Hobbes

morals

Values that govern society's attitude toward right and wrong.

the law is

a means of civil management

A nation that commits any of the four major threats is considered

a rouge state

if such offenses are discovered in a particular nation

all other nations must stop those offenses by resolution, sanction, military intervention, or by all three.

with utilitarianism we must

avoid the greatest good for me principle

The dominant business type is a

corporation

how does the law do this

defines the duties and rights of the people and provides ways to protect the people by enforcing these duties and rights through the courts, the executive branch, and the legislature.

factors beyond making profit that are considered by managers include

economic well being of the nation, the state, the local community, the interests of employees, consumers and suppliers, the betterment of the environment, economy, and overall social structure.

Shortcomings of Utilitarianism

fails to produce consistent moral judgements, developing a common understanding of what is deemed good.

the law and the legal system need not be founded on ethical considerations

false

The problem with utility thinking is that

it often results in actions that are unethical and potentially illegal

positive law can also be referred to as

law of peoples

shortcomings of the ethical dyad

leaders executing the ethic of responsibility.

Louis Bromfield believes in

major powers developing MILITARY alliances

any law not grounded in

morality cannot be considered a philosophically valid law

we should see morality as

more fundamental than law

governments run the

nation, nations run the world

rational ethics is often referred to as

objective ethics

Problems with social contracts include

people adhering to its rules, and that it is descriptive rather than prescriptive.

With morality and law

people will argue in an uncivil manner. they will dispute whether the law is a form of civil management or a way to dictate individual behavior, whether it ought to be created by a national government or a regional state system, and whether it should change regularly or stay the same indefinitely

the difference between positive law and natural law

positive law says that the law comes from social institutions rather than from God or some other outside force

crimes against humanity include

slavery, torture, rape, sexual slavery, mass murder, hostage taking, terrorism, kidnapping, and apartheid among several others.

the ethic of ultimate ends is also referred to as

the ethic of benevolence

Max weber believes in

the idea of a dyadic or two-level system of morality in government.

the second layer of responsibility to protect includes

the international community has the duty to police all other members of the community to ensure that none of them victimize their own people.

the more good that results

the more ethical is the action & vice verse.

shortcomings of rational ethics

the right to have a safe and secure life doesn't equal the right to bear arms; penumbra rights. A secure reputation but people are slandered on media outlets. It doesn't always consider the nuances of everyday life.

Rights of a corporation include

the right to own property in their own name, individual owners personal assets cannot be seized, they cannot be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process, they can file lawsuits to vindicate their rights - they are artificial people.

Kropotkin believes that this intangible quality is based on

the self-esteem that comes from using one's talents, experience, and education to prerform tasks that benefit individuals as individuals and that benefit the entire society. Doing one's duty in a cooperative way creates harmony in society, evokes thanks and appreciation from others, and gives each person a feeling of self worth. In other terms this was called the measure of value appretiare.

other functions of the law

the ultimate rule maker - it provides a sense of stability and harmony when order breaks down in any other area of society. It promotes economic growth by granting tax abatements (rezoning urban area for the establishment of stores and business), and by exercising the power of eminent domain to confiscate privately owned land for community purposes. In addition, the law guards property rights by enforcing contracts and other similar agreements and providing a forum for tort victims and their families. It also protects the environment by regulating those industries that might overdevelop the land and those that dump waste and other pollutants. Lastly, the law is responsible for advancing social justice and guaranteeing personal freedom with due process and equal protections by providing a system where legitimate grievances can be resolved in an orderly and timely fashion.

enlightened self-interest

those who say that accepting ethical responsibility is best for the long term of the corporation. This notion is based on the notion that ethical responsibility created by corporations allows them to create goodwill for themselves, thus motivating consumers to want to purchase their products more, investors buy more of their stock, and allow lawmakers to grant them further legal advantages. In addition the corporation benefits further due to the fact that if the community at large is healthy then in turn they will be as well.

in a perfect society, ethics and laws coincide

true

the law cannot stop us from doing wrong, but can punish us for choosing to do wrong

true

The statutes beyond making a profit seem to be created based on

utilitarianism

unlike social contract ethics

utilitarianism seeks only one permanent goal: the greatest good for the greatest number.

cost-benefit thinking is also referred to as

utility thinking

Socrates speaking through plato said

you begin the study of ethics by understanding human nature