BUSINESS ETHICS 2014-2015 Fourth and fifth lessons Gianfranco - - PDF document

10/20/2014 1

BUSINESS ETHICS 2014-2015 Fourth and fifth lessons

Gianfranco Rusconi ABOUT PAPER OF DONALDSON AND WEHRANE*

• WHAT ABOUT IDEAS AND LIMITS OF:
• CONSEQUENTIALISM/UTILITARIANISM, DEONTOLOGY

AND VIRTUE ETHICS?

• BASF CASE : BUILDING PLANT OR NOT?
• *THESE SLIDES ARE NOT SYSTEMATICALLY REPEATING

WHAT WAS BEEN DONE IN THE LESSONS/READING OF THE PAPER AND DO NOT SUBSTITUTE THE READING AND COMPREHESION OF THE PAPERS.

10/20/2014 2

SOME POINTS FROM DONALDSON AND WERHANE

• CONSEQUENTIALISM:
• A) ETHICAL EGOISM
• B) UTILITARIANISM
• WHAT IS UTILITY? PLEASURE.. GREATEST

HAPPYNESS FOR THE GREATEST NUMBER (JSMILL).. GOOD IS ONLY PLEASURE? OR MAXIMIZING KNOWLWDGE, MORAL MATURITY, FRIENDSHIP? SCALE OF PREFERENCES?

SOME POINTS: problems and issues

• EACH PERSON COUNTS “ONE”
• FUTURE GENERATIONS
• INTENSITY OF PLEAUSURE (AND THE

CONTRARY)

• DICTATOR OF MAJORITY INTERESTS
• SOME PLEASURE AND HAPPYNESS ARE

QUALITATIVELY BETTER THAN OTHERS?

• ACT AND RULE UTILITARIANISM

10/20/2014 3

SOME POINTS

• CRITICS:
• NOT RESPECTING JUSTICE
• WHAT KIND OF GOODS MAXIMIZE?
• OFTEN WE USE UTILITARIANISM IN

ORDINARY LIFE, MA THERE IS THE PROBLEM OF GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF PERSONS

SOME POINTS

• DEONTOLOGY:
• A) KANTIAN
• B) SOCIAL CONTRACT THEORY
• “TO FOCUS ON DUTY AND UNIVERSAL RULES

TO DETERMINE RIGHTS ACTIONS”

10/20/2014 4

SOME POINTS

• KANTIANISM
• DUTY SELF EVIDENT TO MORAL CONSCIENCE
• “CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE”: UNIVERSALITY

OF PRINCIPLES OF ACTIONS; OTHER PERSONS HAVE AN INTRINSIC VALUE IN ITSELF, NEVER TO BE TREATED AS MEANS TO ACHIEVE ONE’S END.

• LIMITS: RISK TO HAVE MORAL RIGIDY OF

FANATICISM

SOME POINTS

• THE CONTRACTARIAN ALTERNATIVE: a rational

person

• JOHN LOCKE (18° century) : NATURAL RIGHTS state of

nature …CONTRACTARIAN REASONING …RIGHTS INHERENT TO A PERSON’S NATURE (example: US Declaration of Independence) and inalienable

• JOHN RAWLS (now) : reasonable position of a person

implies a social contract done with a veil of ignorance about the future (dis)advantages for everyone (male

• r female, rich or poor…) that is implicitly subscriber
• f the social contract:

10/20/2014 5

GENERAL QUESTIONS FOR DEONTOGISTS- CONTRACTARIANS (both Kant and contractarian)

• «IN THE MORAL VALUTION OF BUSINESS, ALL

DEONTOLOGISTS – CONTRACTARIANS INCLUDED-WOULD ASK THE QUESTION SUCH AS THE FOLLOWING:

• 1) ARE THE RULES FAIR TO EVERYONE?
• 2) DO THE RULES HOLD UNIVERSALLY EVEN

WITH THE PASSAGE OF TIME (MY NOTE: PROBLEM OF RELATIVISM AND OBJECTIVISM)

• 3) IS EVERY PERSON TREATED WITH EQUAL

RESPECT?

LIMITS OF CONTRACTARIAN VIEW

• CONTRACT IS IMPLICIT;
• CAN THE CONTENTS CHANGE AND IF NOT WHAT IS

THEIR ORIGIN? IT IS SUFFICIENT TO SPEAK ABOUT HUMAN RATIONALITY IN ORDER TO GIVE THEM SOUND FOUNDATIONS OF TRUTH?

• CAN CUSTOMS OR OTHER BE THOUGHT AS

UNIVERSAL ETHICAL VALUE?

• HOW COULD WE DISCOVER THESE PRINCIPLES?
• COULD BE ACCEPTED VALID EXCEPTIONS AND HOW

IT COULD AGREE WITH THE DEONTOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES

10/20/2014 6

CONSEQUENTIALISM AND DEONTOLOGY

• THE PRINCIPLES GENERATED BY SOCIAL

CONTRACT APPROACH COULD BE FITTING WITH SOME DECISIONS ON THE BASIS OF CONSEQUENTIALISM (DISCUSSION)

VIRTUE Ethics and the case of Health is First Inc.

• SOME PHILOSOPHERS CONSIDER THE TWO

PREVIOUS APPROACHES AS «INCOMPLETE»

• THE CASE OF MISTER JOHN
• VIRTUE ETHICS APPROACH, ORIGINED BY

Aristotle

10/20/2014 7

VIRTUE ETHICS

• MORE THAN RULES: IT IS IMPORTANT THE ROLE

OF CHARACTER IN ETHICS

• 1) HUMAN PERSON IS SOCIAL FOR NATURE
• 2) DEVELOPING CERTAIN VIRTUES OR TRAITS OF

CHARACTER (WISDOM, GENEROSITY, SELFRESTRAINT) : TO BE A GOOD MEMBER OF THE COMMUNITY, CULTIVATION OF GOOD HABITS

• 3) ETHICAL EXCELLENCE CONNECTED WITH

SOCIAL EXCELLENCE OF MANAGERS NOT ONLY RESPECT OF SOME RULES

CRITICS TO VIRTUE ETHICS

• BY UTILITARIANS AND

DEONTOLOGIANS:

• «LACKS OF CLEAR-CUT RULES AND

DECISION-MAKING PROCEDURES»

10/20/2014 8

DEEPENING

• THESE PAPERS COULD IMPROVE

YOUR KNOWLEDGE BUT NOT TO BE STUDIED COMPLETELY (LIKE IS MORE FOR THE PAPER OF DONALDSON AND WERHANE)