scholarly journals Can Hypernorms Be Justified? Insights From A Discourse–Ethical Perspective

2015 ◽  
Vol 25 (04) ◽  
pp. 489-516 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Georg Scherer
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Ethics ◽  
Cultural Relativism ◽  
Necessary Condition ◽  
Moral Norms ◽  
Ethical Perspective ◽  
Integrative Social Contracts Theory ◽  
Social Contracts ◽  
International Business Ethics ◽  
Social Contracts Theory

ABSTRACT: I explore the role of hypernorms in the Integrative Social Contracts Theory (ISCT) of Thomas Donaldson and Thomas W. Dunfee, who suggested that hypernorms are a necessary condition for the rejection of cultural relativism and justification of moral norms within and across social communities. Hypernorms are, thus, a significant part of a conception of international business ethics. I highlight philosophical problems that emerge in attempts to identify and justify hypernorms. These problems have not been sufficiently addressed in the ISCT; therefore, I will discuss the discourse–ethical contributions of contemporary German philosophers toward resolving the justification problem with regards to universal norms. Discourse ethics builds on the linguistic and the pragmatic turns in philosophy and develops procedural rules for the assessment of norms. I explore variants of discourse ethics with regards to their concept of justification and discuss the implications of discourse ethical procedures for the justification of norms and actions.

Social Contract Theory and Gender Discrimination: Some Reflections on the Donaldson/Dunfee Model

1995 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 257-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Don Mayer ◽  
Anita Cava
Keyword(s):  
Gender Discrimination ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Sex Discrimination ◽  
Integrative Social Contracts Theory ◽  
Social Contracts ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Social Contracts Theory ◽  
Foreign Assignment ◽  
Integrative Social

Abstract:This paper relates Donaldson and Dunfee’s Integrative Social Contracts Theory to the problem of gender discrimination. We make the assumption that multinational managers might seek some guidance from ISCT to resolve ethical issues of gender discrimination in countries indifferent or hostile to gender equality. The role of Donaldson and Dunfee’s “hypernorms” seems especially crucial, and we find that, under their writings thus far, no “hypernorms” exist to make unethical the most blatant acts of sex discrimination in a host country whose local norms tolerate such discrimination. The genesis of “hypernorms” as “global moral minimums” is recounted, and specific application of ISCT to a familiar ethics case (“A Foreign Assignment”) is provided.

scholarly journals The Enduring Potential of Justified Hypernorms

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (03) ◽  
pp. 317-342
Author(s):  
Markus Scholz ◽  
Gastón de los Reyes ◽  
N. Craig Smith
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
Stakeholder Engagement ◽  
Integrative Social Contracts Theory ◽  
Social Contracts ◽  
Profound Influence ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Prior Literature ◽  
Social Contracts Theory ◽  
Outer Bounds ◽  
Integrative Social

ABSTRACT:The profound influence of Thomas Donaldson and Thomas Dunfee’s integrative social contracts theory (ISCT) on the field of business ethics has been challenged by Andreas Scherer and Guido Palazzo’s Habermasian approach, which has achieved prominence of late with articles that expressly question the defensibility of ISCT’s hypernorms. This article builds on recent efforts by Donaldson and Scherer to bridge their accounts by providing discursive foundations to the hypernorms at the heart of the ISCT framework. Extending prior literature, we propose an ISCT* framework designed to retain ISCT’s practical virtue of managerial guidance while answering the demands of Scherer and Palazzo’s discursive account. By subscribing to a suitable portfolio of discursively justified hypernorms, we argue, companies unlock the valuable moral guidance of ISCT*, which says to treat these hypernorms as unequivocal outer bounds to the pursuit of business and as a starting point to tailor local norms through discursive stakeholder engagement.

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