Business Ethics and the Origins of Contemporary Capitalism: Economics and Ethics in the Work of Adam Smith and Herbert Spencer

2019 ◽  
pp. 297-314
Author(s):  
Patricia H. Werhane
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
Adam Smith ◽  
Herbert Spencer

scholarly journals Análisis y consecuencias del modelo económico liberal en Guatemala

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Antonio Martínez Cuestas
Keyword(s):  
Karl Marx ◽  
Adam Smith ◽  
Herbert Spencer ◽  
Modelo Económico

La presente investigación se desarrolla mediante la utilización de materiales de información documental, que permitieron realizar un análisis del liberalismo económico en Guatemala, partiendo de los principales exponentes y críticos sociales como: Adam Smith, Karl Marx, Herbert Spencer y otros contemporáneos; generando una línea del tiempo de 60 años, hasta lograr finalizar en el modelo liberal actual; así como los resultados obtenidos a raíz del modelo económico liberal en el país, posteriormente como resultado de los acuerdos de paz firmados en el año 1996, dando inicio a una nueva democracia. Además, se presentan los enfoques del liberalismo internacional y la discusión de sus principales características económicas. En este contexto, el problema de investigación se centra en resolver algunos vacíos del conocimiento que permita comprender las estructuras sociales modernas, lo cual conlleva a preguntar ¿Cuál es la situación actual de los procesos históricos del liberalismo en Guatemala? Los indicadores sociales y económicos de Guatemala que describen la evolución del liberalismo en el país, permiten generar un estudio comparativo y la propuesta de un proyecto estratégico nacional. Al finalizar se concluye que el modelo liberal es un fenómeno sustancial que presenta una crisis económica social, debido a la mala utilización de sus preceptos fundamentales, la desigualdad, inequidades económicas, sociales y políticas, presentando una economía tradicional que ignora y empobrece a los individuos de manera material, mental y psíquico; que a pesar de genera extraordinarias ganancias, produce condiciones salariales bajas, con privilegios fiscales particulares y daños al ambiente.

Business ethics, society, and Adam Smith: Some observations on the liberal business ethos

1996 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 311-332 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary M. Woller
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
Adam Smith

The Historical Foundations of Symbolic Interactionism

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Dingwall
Keyword(s):  
Symbolic Interactionism ◽  
Charles Darwin ◽  
Symbolic Interaction ◽  
Adam Smith ◽  
Plant Ecology ◽  
The Body ◽  
Scottish Enlightenment ◽  
Herbert Spencer ◽  
History Of ◽  
Nature And Society

This chapter models a symbolic interactionist approach to the history of symbolic interactionism. It begins with a discussion of the term ‘symbolic interaction’ as devised by Herbert Blumer and the limits of its applicability to the body of work that represents this tradition. This owes at least as much to borrowings from plant ecology and evolutionary theory by sociologists in Chicago in the 1920s and 1930s, with influences from Charles Darwin and Herbert Spencer. Contemporary symbolic interactionism is distinguished from the post-modern version developed by Norman Denzin and associates; from the more structuralist legacy of Erving Goffman; and from ethnomethodology. The chapter then examines the influence of nineteenth century German philosophy and social thought on Chicago sociology. This is shown to draw on the eighteenth century Scottish Enlightenment, particularly the work of Adam Smith and David Hulme, which also had a direct influence of its own. Ultimately, the story leads back to Stoic thought in ancient Greece and Rome from around 300 BCE to around 180 CE. Although its leaders have not had a great interest in the history of the approach, it is a genuine heir to long-running debates about humanity, nature and society rather than a fringe novelty of the twentieth century.

Adam Smith on Business Ethics

1989 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Q. Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
Adam Smith

scholarly journals Business Ethics in Adam Smith’s works

2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 21-32
Author(s):  
Stefan Zabieglik
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Adam Smith ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Moral Sentiments ◽  
Ethical Problems ◽  
The Social ◽  
Property Owners ◽  
Wealth Of Nations ◽  
Theory Of Moral Sentiments

This paper presents some views of Adam Smith based on some selected problems of business ethics. These can be found in his famous works—The Theory of Moral Sentiments and The Wealth of Nations—and in his lectures at the Glasgow University, where he was a professor of moral philosophy in 1752–1764. The main argument of the paper is that ethical problems (presented mainly in The Theory of Moral Sentiments) are also present in his political economy, which contradicts some neoliberal interpretations of his works as ones of the “intellectual father of capitalism”. In The Wealth of Nations, Smith criticizes each social class because of the fact that its interests are incompatible with the good of the whole society. He condemned the monopolist efforts of the traders and entrepreneurs, described some property owners as “vain egoists” and advanced the interests of the poor. He maintained that the interests of the traders should be supported when these were compatible with the interest of the consumers. The desire for possession and wealth should be analyzed from the social point of view: It is good when it contributes to the common good and the reproduction of humankind.

Corporate Beneficence and COVID-19

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-26
Author(s):  
Daniel T. Ostas ◽  
Gastón de los Reyes
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
Human Nature ◽  
Moral Obligation ◽  
Adam Smith ◽  
Chicago School ◽  
Profit Motive ◽  
Corporate Actions ◽  
Financial Consequence

This article explores the motives underlying corporate responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. The analysis begins with Thomas Dunfee’s Statement of Minimum Moral Obligation (SMMO), which specifies, more precisely than any other contribution to the business ethics canon, the level of corporate beneficence required during a pandemic. The analysis then turns to Milton Friedman’s neoliberal understanding of human nature, critically contrasting it with the notion of stoic virtue that informs the works of Adam Smith. Friedman contends that beneficence should play no role in corporate settings. Smith, by contrast, emphasizes the need for prudence, beneficence and self-command in all human endeavours. The article then uses these competing frameworks to reflect on a published survey of 145 corporate responses to COVID-19. In many of these responses, the benefit to a non-financial stakeholder is clear, while the financial consequence to the firm remains nebulous. This supports the contention that during a pandemic, beneficence provides a more complete explanation of many corporate actions than the profit motive alone. The article contests Friedman’s Chicago School profit imperative and goes beyond Dunfee’s SMMO by endorsing the more full-throated embrace of beneficence and stoic virtue found in the works of Smith.

Business Ethics: A Kantian Perspective

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norman E. Bowie
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics
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