Summary

Summary Morality of Commercial life

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Course
The Morality Of Commercial Life (30J302B6)

Institution
Tilburg University (UVT)

8 mandatory readings are summarized and the notes of the lecture are combined with the readings to make a summary for the course the Morality of Commercial life. The papers summarized are: Why ethical reflection matters (and why moralizing is something else), Engelen & Sie Renouar & Ezvan: Corp...

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Uploaded on June 20, 2022
Number of pages 65
Written in 2021/2022
Type Summary

readings
morality of commercial life
summary
why ethical reflection matters and why moralizing is something else
engelen amp sie
why ethical reflection matters and why moralizing is something el

Institution
Tilburg University (UVT)
Education
International Business Administration
Course
The Morality Of Commercial Life (30J302B6)

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Literature papers summary

Why ethical reflection matters (and why moralizing is
something else), Engelen & Sie - L2
Introduction
● Moral philosophy (/ethics): the systematic and critical reflection on what is good and bad,
right and wrong, morally speaking
○ Concerned with articulating and examining moral reasons that concern us all as
they govern our everyday interactions, whether we are aware of them or not
○ Concerned with examining both internal coherence of our moral reasons and
their strengths and weaknesses in justifying how we lead our lives & run our
societies
● 3 most influential ethical theories are introduces: consequentialism, deontology, virtue
ethics

Introducing three main ethical theories
● Philosophers typically ask why? Which difference makes for a moral difference?
○ Answer by systematically and critically reflecting on what is good and
bad, right and wrong, morally speaking → first sort out values

, ● 3 theories who take different approaches to reflecting on these questions
● Each theory explains what matters and why we care about certain things in
different ways → different ethical theories provide different descriptions and
evaluations of our actions → different normative consequences for what we
should do
● Each of these theories identifies a class of moral reasons we sometimes appeal to when
making decisions or justify what we do

Consequentialism
● Consequences are the only thing that matters, morally speaking
○ Intentions do not matter

Utilitarianism (Bentham, Mill, Singer)
● Utilitarianism: specific consequentialist theory → try to generate most utility
(happiness)
● No absolute values/rights and no absolute principles/rules to respect
● Why is it so influential? → happiness and pleasure are what all humans strive
for
● Identifies considerations to which we can all relate to with ease → look out for
both our interests and other people’s interests as their happiness matters as
much as our own
○ Whose interests matter and who belongs to the circle of moral concern?
● Disagreement on what exactly happiness and suffering are and why we
should attend to them → do all kinds of suffering and happiness matter
equally? Do both quality and quantity matter?
● Disagreement on whether we should maximize the consequences of every single action
or rather stick of general rules or principles
○ ‘rule utilitarians’: overall utility will be maximized if everyone would follow simple
rules (eg. never betray someone’s confidence)
○ ‘Act utilitarians’: every single action should maximize overall utility →
problematic implication that it is fine to sacrifice someone’s interest for
that greater good

Deontology (Kant)
● Focuses on rights that should be respected and duties that should be fulfilled,
irrespective of their consequences
● Make a distinction between what is good or valuable < > the rights and
duties individuals have → do not violate someone else’s rights
● Follow absolute rules and principles → somethings we are never allowed to do
(eg. violating someone’s privacy)
○ We have certain rights and corresponding duties simply in virtue of being
humans

, ● Kant: each of us can, by virtue of our rationality, figure out what our moral
duties are → ‘hypothetical imperatives’: unconditional requirements to reach
pursuations
○ ‘Universalizability principle’: act only according to that maim whereby you can at
the sametime will that it should become a universal law”
○ “Act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the
person of any other, never merely as a means to an end, but always at the same
time as an end’

Virtue ethics (Aristotle)
● Thinks about morality in the light of virtues (eg. honesty, trustworthiness, friendliness)
● Strive to become a good virtuous person to acquire “practical wisdom’, wisdom to act
morally without the need to consciously reflect or deliberate
● Goodness of something always relates to its purpose or function → humans
are good, morally, if they excel in what makes them human, which relates to
their reason (practical knowledge)
● Through practice and habituation, we develop practical wisdom enabling us to know
what to , which is how to achieve happiness/human flourishing
● Disagreement about which virtues are most relevant and how they relate to each other
○ However, all stress how crucial virtues are for answering: what is the good life?
● Each virtue is a mean between the extremes of deficiency and excess
○ Overconfidence < courage > cowardice → moderation

Ethical reflection and everyday life
● On the one hand, philosophical discussions in ethics often employ far-fetched examples
that seem completely unrelated to our everyday lives (eg. trolley dilemma)
○ Purpose: discuss strength and weakness and (im)plausibility of
competing ethical theories, and their ability to guide us in our life →
can be frustrated when looking for practical advice
● On the other hand, philosophers who do have explicit practical advice and have firm
ideas on what you should (not) do are often perceive of as preachy and moralistic
○ Seem difficult to follow or taking all the fun out of our lives
● Ethical theories are highly systematic and abstract elaborations that are
founded in everyday moral intuitions and considerations → radical
conclusions from the willingness of philosophers to think things through and
go where the argument leads them
● Open to us to explain what is wrong with the view in question → think critical
about moral intuitions, beliefs, and claims of ourselves, others and society
○ (Humility and openness when engage in philosophical reflections)
● Some philosophers claim that these theories fail to capture the nature of
everyday moral reasoning / over demanding and psychologically unrealistic /

, the way in which ethics is practices in mainstream theories is wrongheaded
at its core → lead to several alternative approaches

Alternative approaches in ethics
● Deontologism & consequentialism: characterized by a specific way of thinking involving
impersonal pov & strict principles of rules translated into action-guiding prescriptions
○ Some philosophers claim this fails to capture nuances and complexities of our
lives + neglect shaping of lives due to relationship & relational history
● Walker: this failure and neglect led to biased understanding about what morality
and moral agency are about → hard to capture different responsibilities in life
and taking care of people around you in the all-or-nothing vocabulary of
rules, principles, duties and rights
● We cannot do proper moral philosophy without attending to and being critical of existing
and widespread power imbalances in our society
● Surge of interest in moral motivations behind everyday decisions and prompted more
realistic accounts of our moral psychology and agency + ethichists continue to offer
highly critical analyses of our societies which are fundamentally racist, sexist, ableist
● Many challenges continue to change the way ethicists and people think about
morality → challenge frameworks to take a critical look

Where are we heading
● Rapid advancement of technological innovation → raise ethical issues (eg. AI)
● Other issues (eg climate change, poverty ) will remain/become relevant as well
● Low-stake decisions making up everyday life → reflect and discuss to lead a
better life and design better institutions

Renouar & Ezvan: Corporate social responsibility
towards human development: a capabilities
framework -L3
1 Introduction
● CSR has become a collective & shared responsibility
○ CSR as a shared responsibility of companies towards human development in the
long term.
○ CSR as a direct liability model towards each human being directly impacted by a
given company’s activity.
● Relevance of the capabilities framework? Recognize companies’ ultimate goal
should not be unconditional profit maximization and philanthropy → CSR
beyond dominant paradigm that considered CSR as a concept whereby
companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business

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