PHI401.

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Significance of Kantian Ethics of Duty for Business: A Critical Analysis

PHI401.2 | Group 3
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 NORTH SOUTH UNIVERSITY
Significance of Kantian Ethics of Duty for Business: A Critical Analysis
PHI401: Business Ethics| Section: 2
Spring’21 | Date: May 18, 2021

Prepared for:
Faculty: Dr. Mohammad Kamrul Ahsan [Krl]
Lecturer, Department of History & Philosophy
School of Business and Economics, NSU

Submitted by: Group 3 | Word Count: 2523

Serial No. Name ID
1 Tahmid Shahriar Joy 153 0162 630
2 Md. Shahriar Alam 171 1222 630
3 Najmus Sakeeb 171 2247 030
4 Nabila Haque Tori 181 2422 630
5 Shafaet Ali 182 1631 630
6 Sanjida Khandoker 201 1579 030
First and foremost, we’re blessed to finish and present this final group essay of Business Ethics –
PHI401 to you on time. It has been done through what we learned in this course, several kinds of
authentic sources, and our secondary researches. Hence, we’re grateful to our honorable faculty,
Dr. Mohammad Kamrul Ahsan, Lecturer of Department of History & Philosophy at North South
University; without his inspiration, guidance, and constant support, it wouldn’t have possible to
complete this. Moreover, it was such a memorable journey with him, as we learned a lot from this
course. And of course, the peers who have done this successfully. Therefore, we conclude by
acknowledging any and all lacking that might surface from the essay.
Date: May 18, 2021

Professor Mohammad Kamrul Ahsan

Lecturer, Department of History & Philosophy

North South University

Plot 15, Block B, Bashundhara, Dhaka-1229, Bangladesh

Subject: Submission of group essay on Significance of Kantian Ethics of Duty for Business:
A Critical Analysis

Dear Sir,

We would like to inform you that our assignment has finally been completed and we are happy to
submit our essay on Significance of Kantian Ethics of Duty for Business: A Critical Analysis. We
are lucky to have this huge opportunity to work with this topic. The knowledge and ideas that
we’ve attained through this assignment, will be helpful for our professional life and useful for
practical thinking in life.

So, we are grateful to you for providing us such an amazing chance to gain knowledge. We really
hope you’ll find our assignment worth reading. Thank you for all the co-operations.

Regards,

Serial No. Name ID

1 Tahmid Shahriar Joy 153 0162 630
2 Md. Shahriar Alam 171 1222 630
3 Najmus Sakeeb 171 2247 030
4 Nabila Haque Tori 181 2422 630
5 Shafaet Ali 182 1631 630
6 Sanjida Khandoker 201 1579 030
Kantian ethics refers to a deontological ethical theory developed by German philosopher
Immanuel Kant that is based on the notion that: "It is impossible to think of anything at all in the
world, or indeed even beyond it, that could be considered good without limitation except a good
will. “German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) was an opponent of utilitarianism.
Immanuel Kant (1724–1804), was unconcerned about the effects of one's decisions or the damage
done to one's individual interests. Instead, he concentrated on motives and intentions of peoples to
work for the greater good, even though it meant sacrificing themselves. To Kant, doing anything
for the right purpose was much more important than achieving a specific consequence. The
categorical imperative is central to Kant's conception of the moral law. Categorical imperative
means unconditional command which acts on all people, regardless of their interests or desires.
Morality and categorical imperative are connected as morality must be based on the categorical
imperative, because morality is such that you are obligated to follow it, and you cannot refuse to
do so or say that it does not extend to you. Kant has stated 3 principles of categorical imperative.
They are: -

 The principle of Universality

 The principle of Respect
 The principle of Autonomy

The 1st formulation of categorical imperative is, “Act only according to that maxim which you
can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.” A maxim is a law or theory that
guides your behavior in every particular situation. More precisely, it commands that any maxim
you follow must be such that you are able to make the case that everyone follows that maxim in
similar situations. The 2nd formulation of categorical imperative is, “Act so that you treat
humanity, whether in your own person or in that of another, always as an end and never as a means
only.” This one describes the importance of dignity and fairness. And the 3rd formulation of
categorical imperative is, “The principle of autonomy of the will in contrast to all other principles

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is thus the basis of the dignity of both human nature and every rational nature.” This one describes
the importance of freedom of will or freedom of making decisions.

But there are some limitations of the Kantian ethic or Deontology or Ethics of Duty. The first one
is:

 This theory ignores the result of an action. As a result, it is thought to be incapable of

offering complete moral guidance.
 This theory does not give proper guidance when dealing with contradictory moral
obligations. For example, whether or not to tell a lie to save a life. Also, this theory doesn't
give guidance on how we find the right balance between our responsibilities to stockholders
and our responsibilities to the society, staff, and customers.

Our current economy is a free market economy. Making profit is the only goal of business but
Kant isn’t concerned about the result of an action which is misleading this fact. Here Kant seems
to be struggling between deontological and teleological. On the contrary, the categorical
imperative gives us universal rules that command us to value human life and value fairness which
leads the free market to the good. So, there is a basis of Kantian ethics in the free-market economy
but because of its limitations we can explain it via Harvard Philosopher John Rawls’s principles.

Significance 1: We can’t pay the same salaries to every individual of an organization which is
contradictory to the 1st and 2nd categorical imperative of Kantian ethics.

It provides an exclusive opportunity for the development of individual morality by emphasizing

categorical imperative while its main target is to behave ethically focusing on humanity and
autonomy. According to Kant’s first formulation of categorical imperative, “Act only according
to that maxim which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.” which
covers the importance of consistency of practicing a moral value of practicing any other morality.
Second formulation of categorical imperative states that, “Act so that you treat humanity, whether
in your own person or in that of another, always as an end and never as a means only.” This one
covers the importance of fairness and respect in society. According to these principles we have to
treat everyone equally and if we are practicing telling the truth, we can't tell lies when it's
convenient for us. So, if we follow Kantian ethics in our business, we have to treat everyone

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equally which means we have to pay salary equally to all the employees of an organization. But it
is not fair to those people who have more qualifications, who have more skills, who have more
work experience. We just can't pay them how we will pay a fresh graduate employee. Again, a
person who is CEO of a company and who is a clerk of a company does not contribute significantly
the same to the company. Also, if we pay similar salaries to all the employees of a company as
same to the CEO, the company will also go in a lower position in terms of making profit.

But here to solve this issue of Kantian ethics, John Rawls had come up with his 2nd principle
which is known as The Difference Principle. He states that. “Social and economic inequalities are
to be arranged so that they are both to the greatest benefit of the least advantaged, and attached to
offices and positions open to all under conditions of fair equality of opportunity.” Here he included
the necessity of qualification and skills. If a company is staffed by competent individuals with
widely different abilities who are paid differently, it would help all, including stockholders,
employees, administrators, and the community. He believes that these roles should be available to
everyone, with no barriers. Keeping Kant's issue of fairness, at the heart of making any kind of
decision regarding social justice, John Rawls came up with his own principles to make Kant’s
theory more applicable to the business world.

Significance 2: The way categorical imperative become a part of organizational culture.

Kantian ethics is more challenging to apply than utilitarianism, which is the conceptual basis for
most cost-benefit analysis of the industry. On the one side, it provides a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity to grow individual morality through the categorical imperative to behave ethically.

This imperative focuses on one aspect of corporate ethics: personal ethics. For the development of
an ethical culture, the creation of character and moral values is essential. Indeed, corporate ethics
is riddled with examples of businesses that have experienced catastrophic disasters due to their
leaders' failure to behave with goodwill and consideration for others. Uber, where a hazardous
work atmosphere was tolerated (Reddy Nirdosh J., 2017), and Volkswagen, which deliberately
misrepresented the pollution level of its vehicles (Hotten R., 2015), are two recent examples.

On the other hand, Kant's categorical imperative is categorical or unconditional. It supports moral
action regardless of external circumstances or the historical context of a proposed act or judgment

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(Deontological ethics, 2021). According to Kant, "The moral law is an imperative, which dictates
categorically because the law is unconditioned."

Consider how Kantian ethics could be extended not only to individuals but also to organizations
and society as a whole. Kant would consider a corporate act ethical if it benefited others while
benefiting company leadership and stockholders and did not prioritize their interests over the
interests of other stakeholders. If a coworker's loyalty clashed with a supervisor's or the
organization's, for example, the actions that resulted from that loyalty could not satisfy the
conditions of deontology. The boss or the organization will not be seen as a goal. While the
qualitative or refining aspect of Kantian ethics has widespread appeal, it has limitations in the real
world of business. Whether the weaknesses have positive or negative consequences is determined
by the philosophy and ethical views of the company. On the other hand, most businesses do not
strictly adhere to Kantian principles since they concentrate on the outcome of their actions rather
than motivations or intentions.

In Kant's opinion, everyone had a categorical obligation to do the right and moral thing, regardless
of the consequences. Hence, the actor's motive and whether the act considered others as means
were more significant than the act's outcome. In seeing people as ends in themselves rather than
as "living tools" or human capital, Kant reflected Aristotelian virtue ethics. Consequently, this
viewpoint does not dictate most management decisions in business.

Significance 3: Dealing with the stakeholders as persons.

Every individual has his/her own free will, and freedom; thus, they're capable to act from laws
needed by cause. Kant believed they have honor or a worth priceless. In this manner, one person
can't utilize another just to fulfill their own advantages. It is the major object behind Kant's second
motto of the categorical imperative that says: "Always treat the humanity in a person as an end
and never as a means merely".

It ought to be brought up that the "respect for persons" guideline, whereas it doesn't restrict
business exchanges. Nobody is utilized as simply a method in an intentional monetary trade where
the two sides advantage. In any case, just forgoing coercive or deceptive demonstrations isn't
adequate for regarding the humankind in an individual. Extra necessities can be gotten from Kant's
perspective on certain opportunity. In this way, treating the mankind in an individual as an end,

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and not as a method only. There are two things required in a business relationship. First of all, it
necessitates that individuals in a business relationship not be utilized. For example, they should
not be coerced or deceived. Secondly, it implies that business associations and strategic policies
ought to be orchestrated so they add to the improvement of human reasonable and good limits, as
opposed to repress the advancement of these limits. Whenever these prerequisites are carried out,
it would change the idea of business practice. For instance: Americans have been profoundly
worried about the gigantic layoffs made by the cutting back of partnerships in the early and mid-
1990s. A naive Kantian reaction would name them as corrupt in light of the fact that, purportedly,
the workers are being utilized as simple intends to improve investor abundance. Nonetheless, that
judgment would be untimely.

Employers tendency in general contend that employees are pretty much aware of the chance of
layoffs when they take a position. Besides, that workers have the right which they often work out,
to take positions somewhere else. Then again, numerous workers contend that, in the midst of
generally high joblessness and occupation uncertainty, employees truly should receive job offers
on administration terms. Furthermore, in numerous organizations like IBM, there had been a long
practice of employer stability in return for employee loyalty. Nevertheless, by outlining the issue
as far as whether coercion or deception has happened, one has embraced a Kantian way to deal
with business morals. Another concernment regarding contemporary business practice is the
degree to which employees have extremely restricted information about the undertakings of the
organization. In economic term, there is high data imbalance among the executives and the
workers. Wherever one side has data that keeps from opposite side, there is a serious enticement
for maltreatment of force and deception. A Kantian would search for approaches to diminish the
data imbalance among the board and workers.

Significance 4: Business firm as an ethical sect.

Organizations are made out of people and, given the idea of people, hierarchical constructions
should treat the humankind in people with poise and regard. Kant's third motto of the categorical
imperative generally utters "You should act as if you were a member of an ideal kingdom of ends
in which you were both subject and sovereign at the same time". Besides, the principles that
administer an organization should be decides that can be supported by everybody in the

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organization. This general support by judicious people is the thing that empowers Kant to say that
everybody is both subject and sovereign as for the principles that oversee them.

That beneficence is a duty results from the fact that since our self-love cannot be separated from
our need to be loved by others (to obtain help from them in the case of need), we thereby make
ourselves an end for others… hence the happiness of others is an end which is at the same time a
duty (Metaphysics of Morals, 1994). Kantian saw an organization as an ethical sect. Every
individual from the organization remains in an ethical relationship to all the others. The
administrators of a business firm should regard and praise the humankind in every one of the
people in the organization. On the contrary, every person in a business firm, overseen as a Kantian
good ethical sect, should see the organization rather than simply instrumentally, that is as just a
method for accomplishing singular objectives. Organizations are made as methods of
accomplishing shared objectives and shared closures. A person who sees the organization simply
instrumentally is acting in opposition to the "respect for persons" guideline. One of the central
ramifications of Kant's ethics is that it goes about as an ethical study of tyrant various leveled
hierarchical designs. Principle 2 requests interest in some structure by everyone of the corporate
stakeholders. Particularly, investors and employees. A Kantian would ethically protest a various
leveled structure that requires those lower down to do the sets of those above, pretty much
undoubtedly.

Kantian moral theory additionally requires the participation of workers. In fact, it requires an
immense democratization of the work place. Surely, a fundamental state of self-governance is
assent given under non-coercive and non-deceptive conditions. Assent likewise necessitates that
the people in an organization support the guidelines that administer them. As a base state of
democratization, Kantian moral philosophy of thinking necessitates that every individual in an
organization be addressed by the stakeholder group to which the person has a place. And that these
different stakeholder bunches should agree to the principles and approaches which oversee the
organization. For instance: Levi Strauss and Singapore Airlines, have democratic based work
places. This prerequisite for a more democratic work place isn't simply idealistic, rather it has some
backing in administration theory and in administration practice. Teamwork is entirely lauded, and
a few companies have supported assortments of the idea of participative administration.

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Kant believed that people can adhere to laws based on their very own preference like, acting
rationally. Human beings are the creatures that are free. And the reality we are free that empowers
us to be rational and moral. Our unrestrained choice is the thing that gives us our poise and
unconditioned worth. Kant's ethics at that point is a moral of obligation as opposed to a moral of
outcomes. The ethical individual is the person who acts from the correct desires. We can act in this
manner since we have choice. The fundamental principle of ethics, the categorical imperative, is a
necessity of reason and is restricting on all judicious creatures.

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 I. Bownie, N, E. (2005). A Kantian Approach to Business Ethics. University College
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II. Donaldson, T., Werhane, P.H., and Cording, M. (2002). Ethical Issues in Business: a
philosophical approach. Retrieved from http://www.chris-
downs.f2s.com/BAM321/Assets/Kantian%20Approach%20to%20Business%20Ethics.pd
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III. (2021). Deontology: Ethics as Duty. BCcampus. Retrieved from
https://opentextbc.ca/businessethicsopenstax/chapter/deontology-ethics-as-duty/
IV. (May 17, 2021). Deontological ethics - RationalWiki. Rationalwiki.org. Retrieved from
https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Deontological_ethics.
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https://opentextbc.ca/businessethicsopenstax/chapter/deontology-ethics-as-duty/.
VI. Reddy, J. (May 17, 2021). The Toxic Effects of Work Culture at Uber - Anaar. Anaar.
Retrieved from https://anaar.com/blog/broke-uber-toxic-effects-work-culture/.
VII. KANTIAN ETHICS. Retrieved from
https://www.csus.edu/indiv/g/gaskilld/ethics/kantian%20ethics.htm
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