Ethics summary (complete)
Week 1
Knowledge clip
Ethical dilemmas: Ethical dilemmas involve conflicts between equally compelling ethical values or
principles. When faced with such dilemmas, one must navigate through conflicting duties.
Ethical decision-making involves:
Recognizing alternatives: Understanding possible actions and their ethical implications,
considering underlying assumptions and ethical principles.
Identifying stakeholders: Assessing who is affected, emphasizing the ethical perspective over
economic or other outcomes.
Identifying consequences: Assessing how the stakeholders are affected.
Clashing values: Ethical problems arise from clashes between legitimate values or principles,
necessitating a balance to resolve ethical dilemmas.
What ethical behavior is not:
Feelings and emotions
Religious beliefs
Adherence to law
Social conventions
Scientific knowledge
These factors can inform ethical decisions but do not solely constitute ethical behavior.
Foundations of ethical principles: What is the basis on which we can ground ethical principles? Different
thinkers provide different bases. To name a few:
Aristotle’s virtue ethics
Kant’s emphasis on human dignity
Utilitarianism's focus on outcomes
Rawls' perspective on fairness and sharing fate
Communitarianism’s value on community obligations
Lecture
Ethics defined: Ethics stems from the Greek word "êthos," meaning character, custom, or habit, and
deals with moral principles, values, duties, and obligations.
Business science and ethics:
Focuses on the ethical considerations of organizations as agents within markets and society,
raising questions about ethical justifications for actions and decisions.
Explores the impact of markets on society and vice versa, prompting discussions on the ethical
regulation of markets and the reflection of societal values in market practices.
, Week 2
Knowledge clip 1
Aristotle asks himself:
How should men best live?
What is the highest good?
Eudaimonia: A state of happiness, flourishing, or well-being, considered the highest good.
Characterized as:
o Self-sufficient.
o Desirable for its own sake.
o The ultimate goal of life.
Sought by everyone, but interpretations vary between common perceptions and philosophical
insights.
Not equated with pleasure, wealth, or honor, as these lack self-sufficiency or depend on external
factors.
Telos: The purpose or end goal that defines the essence of something, especially human life.
Aristotle employs teleological reasoning to assert that everything, including humans, has a
specific purpose.
The pursuit of eudaimonia is tied to fulfilling one's telos, implying a life aligned with one's
inherent purpose.
Knowledge clip 2
Human telos: The unique end or purpose that characterizes human existence.
Aristotle identifies rational activity (logos) as the defining element of human telos, setting
humans apart from other forms of life.
The telos of humans involves engaging in life activities guided by reason and rational principles.
Logos: Reason, structured thought, or speech, crucial for ethical living and political engagement.
Connects ethical behavior to political life by highlighting the role of communal standards in
discerning good and bad.
Arete: Excellence or virtue in fulfilling one's purpose or function.
Human arete: Living a life that embodies rational virtues and ethical actions.
Involves the practice of virtues through rational activity, shaping a life that aspires towards
eudaimonia.
Eudaimonia and ethical virtues: Achieving a state of well-being through the practice of rational virtues
and ethical living. Emphasizes a life led by reason, where rational deliberation guides desires and actions
towards the good life.
Aristotle: “Man is, by nature, a political animal. The polis is the perfect place to practice this virtue.”
