BUSINESS ETHICS & SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY – GRADE12

Name: ______________________________________ Date: ____________________

Grade: ______________________________________ Section: ___________________

Quarter: 3 Week: 4 SSLM No. 4 MELC(s): 2.1 illustrate how these philosophies are
reflected into business practices. ABM_ESR12-IIIe-h-2.1
Objectives: 1. Define virtue ethics;
2 Identify the different philosophies and their implications to business
principles and practices;
3. Give example how classical philosophies are reflected to business
principles and practices.
Title of Textbook/LM to Study: Business Ethics & Social Responsibility
Unit 1 Pages 8-16 Topic: Classical Philosophies and their Implications to Business
Principles and Practices

Good day learners! This time you will study about Classical Philosophies and their
Implications to Business Principles and Practices, in this short self-learning module. Are you
up for the challenge? Then get ready to learn and complete the succeeding tasks.

Classical Philosophies and their Implications to Business Principles and Practices

I The Classical Philosophies and their Implications to Business Principles and

Practices
A. Socrates: The Gad-fly at the MarketPlace
Socrates, the Greek philosopher and philosopher, said that happiness comes from
doing the right thing. He also argued that ignorance is not worth living if you don't examine
what you actually want to do. Socrates believed that knowing one's purpose is enough to live
a happy life.

Socrates is best known for his Socratic method of question and answer.
The Socratic Method is a systematic process for examining the ideas, questions and
answers that form the basis of human belief. It involves recognizing that all new
understanding is linked to prior understanding. The Socratic method allows individuals to
define their own purpose for learning and explore this purpose through open-minded
questioning.

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 Implication to Business Principles and Practices
1. The Socratic method provides focus through clarity of purpose. Entrepreneurs can
also use the method to develop and reinforce an entrepreneurial mindset. Apple is an
example of a company who does this extremely well. The socratic principles of self-inquiry
help you stay the course.

B. Plato: The Philosopher King

Platonism Philosophy
Platonist ethics is based on the Form of the Good. Virtue is knowledge, the popularity
of the supreme shape of the good. The three elements of the soul or the Tripartite Soul of
Plato are reason, spirit, and appetite all have their share.

Implication to Business Principles and Practices

a. The Good, The Truth and The Beautiful are three ideals to follow in order for
people to make a meaningful contribution. These same ideals can be viewed from the
perspective on how a business can live the brand to become profitable. In their book,
Conscious Capitalism, the authors draw connections between these ideals and modern-day
brand strategy.

C. Aristotle: All or nothing

Virtue and Happiness
Aristotle's Ethics is designed to explain what is good, why it is good and how we
might set about building societies and institutions that might inculcate this goodness. The
aim of the Ethics is to tell us what life consists of: Virtue and happiness.

Implication to Business Principles and Practices

1. Aristotle's philosophy of character and virtues might provide important moral tips
for distinguishing proper from wrong within the world of business. Dr. George Bragues of
Guelph-Humber says the implication of Aristotle's philosophy is one that involves looking at
character and virtue.

D. Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill: Utilitarianism

The principle of utilitarianism revolves in the idea of "the end justifies the means" .
Consequentialists will need to recognize the effects of a person's actions. The question is
what type of outcome do I need, and does it matter if I lie or not?
Rule-based Utilitarianism Act-based Utilitarianism
Definition General principles are used in The decision is based on the
making a decision on the likelihood of achieving greatest utility
greatest benefit that can be or good by analysing particular actions
achieved from an action. or behaviour.
Key Concept(s) Uses rules to determine ethical Uses analysis of particular actions or
behaviour behaviour to determine what is the
best behaviour.

Implication of Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill's Philosophy to Business

Principles and Practices
1. In utilitarianism, the morally right course of action in any events of life is the one
that produces the greatest balance of advantages over harms for everybody affected. For
example, a pharmaceutical business enterprise may function through the principle that it'll

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launch any formally approved drug with some aspect results so long as it enables more
persons to combat a selected disease.

II. Virtue Ethics

Virtue ethics is an approach to ethics that goes back to Plato and Aristotle. It focuses
on what sort of a person we should be. Theory of the moral character of the person carrying
out a particular action or virtue.

Do this set of tasks to have a better understanding of the philosophies and their implications
to business principles and practices.

Activity 1. Match It!

Instructions: Select from Items B the best example of the philosophers' principle listed in
Items A. Draw a line to connect them.

Activity 2. Developing Mastery

Instructions: Read carefully the given question and give what is asked. Write your answer
on the space provided after the question.

1. Suppose you are a banker and you need to consider whether it is right or not to foreclose
the mortgage property of a widow and her children. Considering you have a rule that says
that banks should not foreclose whenever the action of foreclosing would cause more harm
than not foreclosing. If that is the rule, then banks would be reluctant now to lend money.

What philosophy do you think best relates to this situation? Justify your answer.

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2. Define virtue ethics in two to four sentences based on the given statement below.
Virtue Ethics does not focus on the rules to follow but the development of good traits
which help the person make decisions in life.

This time let's see if you can still recall the lesson discussed in this module. Read and follow
the instructions carefully.

Activity: Let’s Remember

Instructions: Write YES if the statement is correct.
If the statement is incorrect, write NO and write the correct name of the philosopher being
described/referred to in the statement.
1. Aristotle's idea of character and virtues could provide
valuable moral guidance for determining what is right and wrong in the
economic environment.

2. Plato’s philosophy explains what is good, why it is good and how we

might go about instilling this goodness in society. The Ethics' goal is to
explain what life is all about: virtue and happiness.

3. Socrates believed that virtue is the popularity of the supreme shape

of the good, which is knowledge. Reason, spirit, and appetite are the
three parts that make up the soul, or the Tripartite Soul of Socrates.

4. The Socratic Method is a method for systematically exploring the

concepts, questions, and responses that underpin human belief. It
entails acknowledging that all new knowledge is dependent on
existing knowledge. Individuals can identify their own learning aim and
explore it through open-minded questioning using the Socratic
approach.

5. For Plato lives are enriched when people pursue greatness to

change the world for the better. When brands follow The Beauty
strategy path, they get on a never-ending journey of continuous
improvement to achieve excellence in business. For a business to
follow this pathway simply take something that people perceive as
good and make it better.

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Let's have another activity that will help you apply the new knowledge you have learned into
real life situations.

Activity : Situational Analysis.

Instructions: Read comprehensively and try to engage yourself into much more realistic
applications of the principles you have learned from this module. Write your answer on the
space provided. (30 pts.)
Note: Refer to the rubrics below as your guide in presenting your answers.

Juan, Pedro, and Caloy are officemates for ten (10) years. The three of them have been
awardees of Arbie Company. One time, Juan was approached by her friend from another
company that there is a leak of the business strategy from another company. Juan, being
not very confident with his work and needed the promotion badly, took the opportunity and
grabbed a copy of the leaked business strategy. Being a friend to Pedro and Caloy, Juan
also shared the "good news" with them. However, Pedro and Caloy went to their boss and
reported that Juan used a leaky business strategy of another company. Juan was
interrogated by their boss and was fired.

1. If you were one of Juan’s friends with whom he shared the leaked copy, what will you do?
Explain.

2. What virtues pushed Pedro and Caloy to report the case to their boss?

3. Do you think what Pedro and Caloy did was right? Why or why not? Cite at least one
philosophy that best applies in your decision.

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Rubrics for Rating (Activity 4)
Unsatisfactory (5pts) Minimal (7 pts.) Proficient (10 pts.)
Accuracy and
Understanding The student shows no The student shows The student shows
Content understanding of the marginal or poor understanding of the
The student is able to presented issue(s) by understanding of presented issue(s) by
demonstrate content (1) not addressing or the presented correctly (1)
(factual) knowledge incorrectly addressing issue(s) by (1) addressing the most
and understanding of the relevant content barely touching on critical content
material addressed in the relevant content.(2)making basic
question. connections.
Reasoning The student does not The student The student can:
The student is able to reason with the makes inappropriate (1) synthesize
reason with the given assigned materials or connections to other material, (2) make
task situation. solve the given topics. appropriate
problem. connections to the
topics
Communication Unable to write well Ideas are Ideas are sequenced
The student enough for the scorer fragmented, and logical so that the
communicates with to understand the wandering and content is easy to
the reader. answer. repetitive, so that it understand.
is hard to
understand text.

Belascuain, J.A. (2020). Business Ethics & Social Responsibility Self-Learning Module 4:
Classical Philosophies and their Implications to Business Principles and Practices, First
Edition 2020

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