OBJECTIVES

A er studying this chapter the student should be

able to:
• Develop insights and a keen understanding of
the principles and importance of ethics in
business; the theorists and theories on ethics
• Establish a clear understanding of what ethics

ETH201 - ETHICS is
• Foster an understanding of ethical
responsibili es in society
Theories of Ethics • Discuss the importance of studying Ethics
• Outline the main theories of ethics
• Compare and contrast the main theories of
ethics

OBJECTIVES
• Iden fy some of the strengths and weaknesses
on Aristotle’s Virtue Theories.
OBJECTIVES
• Other resources for the course
• Weiss, J.W., (2014) Business Ethics: A
stakeholder and issues management approach
Joseph W. Weiss, 6th ed. Berre – Koehler. San
Francisco, California.
• Harvard Business Review
• Forbes Magazine
 • Ethical Theory – Personal Ethics & Business
Ethics
• Ethical Approaches and Theories
• Norma ve Ethics
• Virtue Theories – Aristotle
OVERVIEW
• Summary

• A) Kantian ethics is often said to be

grounded in a principle of respect for
persons. Why, according to Kant, should
we respect other persons?
• B) What does respect have to do with a
DISCUSSION person’s capacity to make rational
choices?
QUESTIONS
Business Organiza on Ra onal
METHODS TO EASING MORAL
Model
•Velazquez argues that firms do the following
DISAGREEMENTS
maximize efficiencies:

•Coordinate members ac vi es in order to - Obtaining objec ve informa on

achieve maximum efficiency.
- Defini onal clarity
ETHICS
•Informa on rise from bo om to organiza o
top - Example-counterexample
•Fair wage and working condi on is provided - Analysis of arguments and posi ons
employer
•Employees obligated contractually to pursue
organiza ons goal loyally .

Employee Rights and Du es

 De George 2011 argues that
• An employer is also bound by the moral law.
• Hence, neither side in the hiring process has the
moral right to set whatever terms it wishes
• The background conditions for any contract
between employer and employee are the
conditions set by morality, law, and local custom,
and by the existing social circumstances in which
the contract is made

According to Velasquez 2012, employees have the

right to:
• Privacy
• Employee civil rights
• Freedom of conscience
• Employment at will
• Work
• Organize
 Employees Rights
and Duties
De George 2011 argues that employees are e
to: ETHICAL THEORIES
Civil rights and legal rights AND APPROACHES
The right to equal employment regardless of
sex
Freedom of expression
Right to treatment of respect as a moral bein

Fair Wages
• Employees have a right to far wages. Fair wages
Fair Wages
depend on:
Arguments Why wages in developing countries
– Cost of living; firms cash flow and ability to pay;
are considered to be fine:
laws governing minimum wages in the country,
– Country comparisons should not set wages but
risk-skill level required and demands of the job
market conditions should
and fairness in comparison to other salaries in
the firm, how fair the wage negotiations process – Company’s profits are not most important when
we setting wages but the local factors are most
important
– While living costs are important, the
Arguments Why wages in developing countries
are too low.
– even taking differences of productivity into
account it is low compared to developed nations
– Looking at profit margins in developing countrie
and what companies make what companies can
afford its too low.
– Relative to what workers in developing nations
need to live on.

JOB RISKS
Velazquez argues the following about Job risks:
•when labor markets are uncompe ve and
risks are unknown and uncompensated they are
not jus fied
•When informa on on risk are not collected by
companies and workers are not informed then
job risks Are not jus fied
•May not be jus fied when less-risky jobs are
unavailable, or when workers lack informa on
about less-risky alterna ves.
MORAL RESPONSIBILITIES FOR
WORKING CONDITIONS
- Good Working condi ons are the
responsibility of employers. An employer is
considered to be morally responsible for bad
working condi ons if :
- They Can and should improve condi ons
- They are aware that the condi ons are bad
- They are not being prevented from changing
condi ons
ESTABLISHING FAIR WORKING
CONDITIONS
- Workers have a right to fair working
condi ons:
- Velasquez argues that the following is true
with respect to establishing fair working
condi ons:
- when cost is reasonable eliminate risk, risks
of a poten al job to be studied job, all
known risks should be told to workers,
workers to be compensated for injuries and
those premiums should be comparable to
premiums paid in other jobs
- medical and disability benefits should be
adequate.
- job risks and informa on related to job risks
should be a collabora ve effort.
EMPLOYMENT AT WILL
•Ownership of the company rests with the
employer which gives them the right to decide
how long they will keep an employee within
their employ.
•Velasquez 2006 argues ‘everyone has the right
to do what they choose (provided they do not
violate the rights of others) and so has the right
to make whatever agreements they choose,
including the agreement with employees to hire
and fire them at will’.
•The efficient opera on of business is centered
around the face that businesses have the
freedom to hire or fire employees as they see
fit.
THE RIGHT TO WORK
- Employees have a right to work. Jus fica ons
of the right to work are jus fied as follows:
- There is an instrumental and intrinsic value o
work which we desire.
- it is a means to our survival.
- Work has an intrinsic value because
- Helps one to feel worthwhile and it
contributes to society’s economic viability
- Helps us to develop poten al
- Helps us develop virtues, character and skills
- Helps to develop respect, self esteem .
KANTIANISM
- Immanuel Kant (1724–1804): A German
philosopher with a non - consequen alist
approach to ethics.
- Said the moral worth of an ac on is
determined on the basis of its intrinsic
features or character, not results or
consequences.
- Believed in good will, that good ac ons
proceed from right inten ons, those inspired
by a sense of duty.
DEONTOLOGICAL DOCTRINE
- We will not use people as a means to an end
- Individuals have rights that should not be
sacrificed simply to produce a net increase in
the collec ve good – ethical rights which are
basic to all individuals
- We have du es ( also defined as obliga ons,
commitments or responsibili es)
KANTIANISM – IN BUSINESS
- Kan anism in the business context:
- The categorical impera ve provides a solid
standard for the formula on of rules
applicable to any business circumstances.
- Kant emphasizes the absolute value and
dignity of individuals.
- Kant stresses the importance of ac ng on the
basis of right inten ons.
RIGHTISM
- Want is a psychological state of the individual
- Wants get translated into interest. Work for
that person’s benefit and are connected to
what is good for the person
- Rights are important to well being of the
individual that they should not be sacrificed
to increase the overall good.
- Right overrides the collec ve will
ARISTOTLE’S VIRTUE ETHICS
- “Aristotle (384–322 BCE)
- Greek philosopher whose influence on
modern human civiliza on is enormous.
- Nicomachean Ethics in which he presented
his views on the nature of virtue, the means
of developing it, its importance for a happy
life both individually and for the society as a
whole, the chief purpose of the state, and
the ideal for human life. “ (Prasad, 2013)
METHODS TO EASING MORAL
DISAGREEMENTS
- Obtaining objec ve informa on
VIRTUE THEORIES
- Defini onal clarity
-
ARISTOTLE
- Example-counterexample
- Analysis of arguments and posi ons
ARISTOTLE’S VIRTUE ETHICS
- “Aristotle (384–322 BCE)
- Greek philosopher whose influence on
modern human civiliza on is enormous.
- Nicomachean Ethics in which he presented
his views on the nature of virtue, the means
of developing it, its importance for a happy
life both individually and for the society as a
whole, the chief purpose of the state, and
the ideal for human life. “ (Prasad, 2013)
ARISTOTLE’S VIRTUE ETHICS
- “Importance of character: Aristotle believed
that character is more important than ac ons
as it is from the character that human ac ons
proceed.
- So the important ques on to ask is not ‘what
I should do in this or that situa on’ but ‘what
type of a person I should seek to become’.
(Prasad, 2013)
ARISTOTLE’S VIRTUE ETHICS
- “Teleology: Aristotle’s theory is teleological in
the sense that it assumes that human beings
have an end towards which they strive and
that end is happiness, which in turn depends
upon the development and fully fledged
unfolding of their essen al ra onal and moral
nature which leads to virtue or arête
(excellence).
- Happiness is naturally felt by an individual
when he lives in accordance with the
appropriate virtues.’ (Prasad, 2013)
ARISTOTLE’S VIRTUE ETHICS
- “Importance of ra onality: Aristotle
explained that the human being is a
combina on of ra onality and irra onality.
- The irra onal part is superficial while the
ra onal part is essen al. A properly
func oning human being is a ra onal person
with a very highly developed faculty of
reason.
- The development of human ra onality can be
helped by teaching and also requires
experience and me for its development “
(Prasad, 2013)
ARISTOTLE’S VIRTUE ETHICS
- Goal: - “To prove that happiness indeed is
the end goal of all human striving.
- When are happy we cannot imagine a higher
purpose for which that happiness is needed.
Happiness is an end by itself. “ (Prasad, 2013)
ARISTOTLE’S VIRTUE ETHICS
- “Virtue, Arête (Excellence) and Happiness:
The highest form of happiness arises in a
human being when he/she realises his/her
essen al nature as a ra onal and moral being
at which point he or she becomes a virtuous
person or a person with arête (excellence).
- He/she develops an exemplary character
whose behaviour is always in accordance
with reason.” (Prasad, 2013)
ARISTOTLE’S VIRTUE ETHICS
- “Nature of Virtue: Now let us take the
ques on, what exactly is virtue according to
Aristotle? “(Prasad, 2013)
ARISTOTLE’S VIRTUE ETHICS
- To become virtuous, one has to prac ce
virtuous deeds or virtuous behaviour.
- “It does not come easy as there is an
irra onal part in us that constantly tries to
steer us away from the path of virtue. But to
steer away from the path of virtue is to steer
away from finding true happiness in life and
hence it is very important to strive hard to
develop a virtuous character”. (Prasad, 2013)
ARISTOTLE’S VIRTUE ETHICS
- “According to him, virtue is the mean
between two vices.
- Vice is any moral quality which is present in a
person in excess or is in a state of deficiency.”
(Prasad, 2013)
ETHICAL EGOISM
• “Ethical egoism is the moral doctrine that everyo
to act to promote his or her own interests exclus
• In contrast to psychological egoism, ethical egois
a claim about how people should behave rather t
they actually behave.
• Perhaps the most notable advocates of ethical eg
were Ayn Rand and Max S rner, each of whom a
(although in slightly different ways) that pursuit o
self-interest should always be a person’s primary
goal.”(Seven Pillars Ins tute, 2010)
ETHICAL EGOISM
• “Ethical egoism is o en equated with
selfishness, the disregard of others’ inter
favor of one’s own interests.
• However, ethical egoism cannot be coher
equated with selfishness because it is o
one’s self-interest to help others or to ref
from harming them.” (Seven Pillars Ins tu
2010)
ETHICAL EGOISM
• “For example, Rand contends that it would
absurd to claim that a husband who spend
fortune to cure his wife of an illness does s
en rely on her behalf.
• For an ethical egoist, the mo va on to he
members and friends is one’s personal con
to them and the distress that would be cau
their misfortune or suffering.” (Seven Pilla
Ins tute, 2010)
ETHICAL EGOISM
• “Complete strangers are not worthy of th
special treatment.
• Nevertheless, Rand does advocate showi
people a “generalized respect and good w
which amounts to noninterven on; we sh
avoid arbitrarily doing harm to others, bu
du es to aid them are also minimal.” (Sev
Pillars Ins tute, 2010)
ETHICAL EGOISM
• “The kinds of deeds we perform for our f
and loved ones are not to be done for ev
however.
• Rand describes such ac ons as “a reward
men have to earn by means of their virtu
which one cannot grant to mere acquaint
or strangers.”(Seven Pillars Ins tute, 2010
CRITICISMS OF ETHICAL EGOISM
• “The theory has been almost universally rejected as
acceptable ethical theory.
• One of the most basic cri cisms is that ethical egoist
misrepresent altruism, the doctrine that opposes eth
egoism and basis morality on a concern for others’ in
(Seven Pillars Ins tute, 2010)
• If moral theories are supposed to facilitate human flo
then ethical egoism is counterproduc ve because it g
conflict without providing a ra onal mechanism for s
them, and some mes morally obligates people to pr
others from fulfilling their moral obliga ons.
CRITICISMS OF ETHICAL EGOISM
• Ethical Egoism goes against considered mo
intui ons and this seems unacceptable. Fo
example, it seems wrong to say that killing
innocent person is morally obligatory if it
maximizes the poten al killer's interests.
• Ethical egoism is unacceptably biased. Wh
jus fies ignoring the interest of others and
preferen al treatment to oneself and who
morally for the ethical egoist?
• A perfectly aligned and integrated set of p
ethics can only flow out of a perfectly align
integrated personal value system.
• A high degree of integra on and alignmen
one’s value system, with respect to the set
universal values, is a ained only by the hig
integrated (in terms of consistency betwee
thoughts, words and ac ons) and morally
developed individuals.
SUMMARY
• Some of the most important universal values, wh
very useful for an execu ve to possess as core va
integrity, wisdom, honesty, sincerity, transparenc
truthfulness, punctuality, humility, courage.
• There are many other good values that one could
to develop in oneself but the above men oned a
of the most important ones. Let us look at the m
these values one by one in brief.
• There are many theories related to moral develo
which are linked to chronological and cogni ve a
REFERENCES
• Beauchamp, T. L., Bowie, N.E., & Arnold, D.G. (2009).
Theory and Business. (8th Ed.). Upper Saddle River, N
Pren ce Hall.
• Blum, L.A., (1988) Gilligan and Kohlberg: Implica ons
Theory Author(s): Source: Ethics, Vol. 98, No. 3 (Apr.,
472-491 Published by: The University of Chicago Pres
• Ethical egoism. (September 5, 2010) Seven Pillars Ins
Retrieved from
h p://sevenpillarsins tute.org/news/ethical-egoism