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Ethics and the Future of Business
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This document includes all lectures and articles from the general part of the course for the both the marketing and business administration tracks.
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Ethics and the Future of BusinessLecture 1
1. What is morality, ethics and an ethical theory?
- Morality: Human’s ability to distinguish between right and wrong.
- Ethics: The systematic study of morality
- Ethical theory: are principles and rules that determine right and wrong in specific situations.
2. What is the difference between ethics and the law?
Morality and ethics are the foundation of the law, but the law are really rules that people have
to follow, otherwise a consequence will follow such as a fine, prison etc. Morality and ethics
are not necessarily followed with consequences until these are in the law. Some things are
legal but you can wonder if it’s ethical. Then it will (in principle) not have any consequences.
3. Which dimensions of the Moral Machine experience more agreement?
There is variance in agreement across different dimensions, but sparing humans instead of
pets, sparing more characters instead of fewer, and sparing the young instead of the old tend
to receive more agreement.
4. Which cultural differences come through in the Moral Machine when comparing Western,
Eastern and Southern cultures?
Some preferences about gender or societal status vary considerably across countries,
and appear to reflect underlying societal-level preferences for egalitarianism.
5. What are the core normative theories in Modernist Western thinking? What are the core
ideas of each?
Answer: We examined ethical egoism, utilitarianism, ethics of duties, and rights and
justice perspectives.
6. What are alternative theories to Modernist Western normative theories described above?
Answer: Crane et al. 2019 list virtue ethics, feminist ethics, discourse ethics and postmodern
ethics; See slide 36 and Crane et al. 2019 for descriptions of key elements.
,7. What is ethical pluralism?
Does not view one theory as the correct one, but each ethical theory is seen to provide
resources in the decision making process. The aim is to find a contextually appropriate
balance and consensus that takes into consideration different perspectives.
Morality, ethics and ethical theory
- Morality is humans’ ability to distinguish between right and wrong
- Ethics is the systematic study of morality
- Ethical theories are principles and rules that determine right and wrong in different
situations
- Normative ethics: how we ought to behave
Ethics
- Ethics typically examines right and wrong from the perspective of a human being,
instead of, for instance, nature
Do we need ethics when we have the law
- In society, morality is the foundation of the law
- Law and ethics are partly overlapping
o Law does not cover all ethical issues
o Not all legal issues are ethical
o Law and ethics can involve contradictions
- The road from unethical to illegal is short and slippery.
, - Companies can operate in locations with lacking legal infrastructure
Normative ethical theories
Ethical egoism
- Usually not considered as an ethical theory, although this view is very influential in
economics
- An action is morally right if the decision-maker freely decides in order to pursue either
their (short-term_ desires or their (long-term) interest.
- The influence of egoism is related to the perception of ideal markets and Adam’s
Smith’s ‘invisible hand.’
- Problems with the theory
o Inconsistent as it condones blatant immoral wrongs, since’ anything goes’
violence against vulnerable
o Enlightened egoism focuses on the meeting of long-term human interests
Utilitarianism
- An act is morally right if it results in the greatest amount of good to the greatest
amount of people.
- Egoism in economics tend to function within a utilitarian societal moral theory
- Kind of a cost-benefit analysis
- Problems with the theory
o It is subjective, context-dependent, and difficult to compare between people
o Problems to the just distribution of wealth
o Contradictory with respecting basic human rights
o Maximizing in generally not the best approach to addressing values
o Does not include idea of reciprocity
Ethics and duties
- Immanuel Kant
- Central concepts to Kant’s moral philosophy: duty, consistency, dignity and
universality
, - Duties do not mean to only following rules, but involve human ability to develop
moral law and moral rules
- Kant’s deontological theory develops principles or categorical imperatives to guide
our actions
Ethical of duties: categorical imperatives
- Universal applicable
o Categorical imperative: act only so that the will through its maxims could
regards itself at the same time as universally lawgiving
o Main ideas: check that the principle is acceptable to every human being
- Respect for person
o Categorical imperative: act so that you treat humanity, whether in your own
person or in that of another, always as an end and not means only
o Main ideas: a human being is a valuable autonomically being, and not mean to
an end or tool.
- Problems
o Abstract theory
o Morality can be seen as a heavy burden to bear
o Morality is founded perhaps too strictly on the use of reason
o Ethics of duties undervalues of actions
Rights and justice
- Natural (human) rights are certain basic, important, inalienable entitlements that
should be respected and protected in every single situation. These are based in human
dignity and lead to a duty for others to protect, respect and support them
- Main natural rights: right to life, freedom, property, speech, privacy, conscience, and
fair trial among others
- Right-based thinking are a central part of Western political and ethical thought and the
foundation of universal human rights
- Justice: the simultaneous fair treatment of individuals in a given situation with the
result that everybody gets what they deserve
- Key ideas: procedural vs. distributive fairness; veil of ignorance; social contract;
system of basic liberties, judgement of society by the state of the least advantaged and
equal opportunities.
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