Lecture 1
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.
Business ethics is the study of business situations, activities, and decisions where issues
of right and wrong are addressed
- perspective of a human being (anthropocentric)
- try to affect practice
- can give contradictory solutions
Ethical Egoism - Hobbes, Smith, Rand
- An action is morally right if the decision-maker freely decides in order to pursue either
their (short-term) desires or their (long-term) interests
- Enlightent egoism focuses on meeting long-term human interests
- Limitations
- inconsistent as it condones blatent immoral wrongs such as murder or theft
- conflicting interests
Utilitarianism - Bentham, Mill
- An act is morally right if it results in the greatest amount of good to the greatest
amount of people affected by the action.
- Act utilitarianism: Whether a single act is right or wrong depends on the amount of
common good it produces.
- Rule utilitarianism: Focuses on creating rules that produce the most common good.
- Cost/Benefit analysis
- Limitations: subjective, distribution of wealth, maximising, reciprocity, basic rights
Ethics of Duties - Kant
- duty, consistency, dignity, and universality
- human’s ability to develop moral law and moral rules
- Categorical Imperatives: applicable to every human being (tomorrows newspaper
test), human being is valuable autonomical being not means or tool
, - Limitations: abstract theory, morality is a heavy burden, overuse of reason,
undervalues outcomes
Rights and Justice - Locke, Rawls
- 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.
- Veil of ignorance: judging by the least advantaged, equal opportunity
- Limitations: arbitrary, too western, does not allow for extreme situations
Virtue ethics: The central aim is not to fulfill duties or aim for the greatest good, but to lead
a good life. Virtue ethics focuses on the character of the individual decision-maker.
Feminist ethics: Instead of abstract moral principles, feminist ethics emphasizes caring,
empathy, and harmonious and healthy social relationships.
Discourse ethics: Discourse ethics focuses on solving ethical conflicts through democratic
dialogue and providing a process of norm generation.
Postmodern ethics: Moving away from rationality, postmodern ethics focuses on emotional
moral impulses towards others, and focuses on individual questioning of universal rules.
Bazerman (2020) guidelines for creating more value:
1. Compare alternatives: Allows us to implement utilitarianism.
2. Look for tradeoffs: Allows us to consider on what each of values in negotiations.
3. See time as a scarce resource: Allows us to prioritize and focus our efforts.
4. Integrate your ethical self: Allows us to identify opportunities for improvement.
5. Design the choice architecture: Allows us to make positive value creation easier.
Pluralism
- Pluralism represents a moderate view
- Pluralism does not view any single theory as the only correct approach to ethical
problems.
- Each ethical theory is seen to provide resources for decision making.
- The aim is to find a contextually appropriate balance and consensus that takes into
consideration different perspectives.
Lecture 2
Economic decision-making:
- The motive of human decision-making is their own economic interest and well-being.
Humans are perceived as rational.
