When is “Everyone's Doing It” A Moral Justification?

1991 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald M. Green
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
Prima Facie ◽  
Moral Justification ◽  
Undesirable Behavior

The claim that “Everyone's doing it” is frequently offered as a reason for engaging in behavior that is widespread but less-than-ideal. This is particularly true in business, where competitors’ conduct often forces hard choices on managers. When is the claim “Everyone's doing it” a morally valid reason for following others’ lead? This discussion proposes and develops five prima facie conditions to identify when the existence of prevalent but otherwise undesirable behavior provides a moral justification for our engaging in such behavior ourselves. The balance of the discussion focuses on testing these conditions by applying them to a series of representative cases in business ethics.

When is “Everyone's Doing It A Moral Justification?

1991 ◽  
Vol 1 (01) ◽  
pp. 75-93
Author(s):  
Ronald M. Green
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
Prima Facie ◽  
Moral Justification ◽  
Undesirable Behavior

The claim that “Everyone's doing it” is frequently offered as a reason for engaging in behavior that is widespread but less-than-ideal. This is particularly true in business, where competitors’ conduct often forces hard choices on managers. When is the claim “Everyone's doing it” a morally valid reason for following others’ lead? This discussion proposes and develops fiveprima facieconditions to identify when the existence of prevalent but otherwise undesirable behavior provides a moral justification for our engaging in such behavior ourselves. The balance of the discussion focuses on testing these conditions by applying them to a series of representative cases in business ethics.

scholarly journals Is there Such a Thing as a Good Profit? Taking Conventional Ethics Seriously

Philosophia ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marja K. Svanberg ◽  
Carl F. C. Svanberg
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
Christian Ethics ◽  
Moral Justification ◽  
Profit Motive ◽  
Kantian Ethics ◽  
Ethical Theories ◽  
Self Interest ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractThis paper will show that if we take conventional ethics seriously, then there is no moral justification for business profits. To show this, we explore three conventional ethical theories, namely Christian ethics, Kantian ethics and Utilitarian ethics. Since they essentially reject self-interest, they also reject the essence of business: the profit motive. To illustrate the relationship, we will concretize how the anti-egoist perspective expresses itself in business and business ethics. In business, we look at what many businesses regard as proof of their virtue. In business ethics, we look at what many business ethicists say about the relationship between morality and self-interest and, thus, the profit motive. Ultimately, we will argue that conventional ethics can, at most, only justify the means of business (i.e., aspects of running a business), but not the end of business (i.e., profits).

Business Ethics and Extant Social Contracts

1991 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas W. Dunfee
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
Social Contract ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Prima Facie ◽  
Theoretical Research ◽  
Priority Rules ◽  
Ethical Theories ◽  
Social Contracts ◽  
The Social ◽  
Ethical Norms

Extant social contracts, deriving from communities of individuals, constitute a significant source of ethical norms in business. When found consistent with general ethical theories through the application of a filtering test, these real social contracts generate prima facie duties of compliance on the part of those who expressly or impliedly consent to the terms of the social contract, and also on the part of those who take advantage of the instrumental value of the social contracts. Businesspeople typically participate in multiple communities and, as a consequence, encounter conflicting ethical norms. Priority rules can be devised to resolve such conflicts. The framework of extant social contracts merges normative and theoretical research in business ethics and specifies a domain for empirical studies.

Normative And Empirical Business Ethics: Separation, Marriage Of Convenience, Or Marriage Of Necessity?

1994 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary R. Weaver ◽  
Linda Klebe Trevino
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
Prima Facie ◽  
Practical Reasons ◽  
Theoretical Integration ◽  
Empirical Inquiry ◽  
Ethics Research ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract:This paper outlines three conceptions of the relationship between normative and empirical business ethics, views we refer to as parallel, symbiotic, and integrative. Parallelism rejects efforts to link normative and empirical inquiry, for both conceptual and practical reasons. The symbiotic position supports a practical relationship in which normative and/or empirical business ethics rely on each other for guidance in setting agenda or in applying the results of their conceptually and methodologically distinct inquiries. Theoretical integration countenances a deeper merging of prima facie distinct forms of inquiry, involving alterations or combinations of theory, metatheoretical assumptions, and methodology. This paper explicates these positions, summarizes arguments for and against each, and considers their implications for the future of business ethics research.

Why be Moral in Business? A Rawlsian Approach to Moral Motivation

2002 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard H. Toenjes
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
John Rawls ◽  
Moral Motivation ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Moral Justification ◽  
Business World ◽  
Business Interests ◽  
The Core ◽  
Business Person ◽  
Thomas Scanlon

Abstract:This article puts forth the thesis that the contractualist account of moral justification affords a powerful reply in business contexts to the question why a business person should put ethics above immediate business interests. A brief survey of traditional theories of business ethics and their approaches to moral motivation is presented. These approaches are criticized. A contractualist conception of ethics in the business world is developed, based on the work of John Rawls and Thomas Scanlon. The desire to justify our choices in terms that others can be reasonably expected to accept, or at least in terms that others cannot reasonably reject, is identified and differentiated from other accounts of motivation. It is this desire that constitutes the core motive to be moral in business on the contractualist conception. Implications of this contractualist conception for the theory and practice of business ethics are then discussed.

Upping the Stakes: A Response to John Hasnas on the Normative Viability of the Stockholder and Stakeholder Theories

1999 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 699-706 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel E. Palmer
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
Stakeholder Theory ◽  
Recent Article ◽  
Prima Facie ◽  
The Core ◽  
Stockholder Theory ◽  
Normative Considerations

Abstract:This essay responds to Hasnas’s recent article “The Normative Theories of Business Ethics: A Guide for the Perplexed” in Business Ethics Quarterly. Hasnas claims that the stockholder theory is more plausible than commonly supposed and that the stakeholder theory is prone to significant difficulties. I argue that Hasnas’s reasons for favoring the stockholder over the stakeholder theory are not as strong as he suggests. Following Hasnas, I examine both theories in light of two sets of normative considerations: utilitarian and deontological. First, I show that utilitarian considerations clearly favor the stakeholder theory. I then argue that though Hasnas rightly accents the basic deontological constraint at the core of the stockholder theory, he is wrong to think that acknowledging such a constraint necessarily counts against the stakeholder theory. Here, I develop Ross’s notion of prima facie obligations to show how a viable stakeholder theory might be developed within a deontological framework.

Principles of Managerial Moral Responsibility

2009 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 529-552 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward Soule ◽  
Marcus Hedahl ◽  
John Dienhart
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
Moral Responsibility ◽  
Prima Facie ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Integrative Social Contracts Theory ◽  
Moral Principles ◽  
Social Contracts ◽  
Ethics Research ◽  
Social Contracts Theory ◽  
Integrative Social

ABSTRACT:The purpose of this paper is to formulate and defend a set of moral principles applicable to management. Our motivation is twofold: 1) to increase the coherence and utility of Integrative Social Contracts Theory (ISCT); and 2) to initiate an alternative stream of business ethics research. To those ends, we specify what counts as adequate guidance in navigating the ethical terrain of business. In doing so, a key element of ISCT, Substantive Hypernorms, is found to be flawed beyond repair. So we propose and defend a remedy: prima facie moral principles. After delineating the appropriate criteria and format for such principles, we formulate, explain, and defend five of them. We conclude with a brief comment on future research possibilities.

Deception and Withholding Information in Sales

2001 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 275-306 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Carson
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
Golden Rule ◽  
Prima Facie ◽  
Social Responsibilities ◽  
The Social ◽  
Moral Duties ◽  
Plausible Theory ◽  
Withholding Information

Abstract:The ethics of sales is an important, but neglected, topic in business ethics. I offer criticisms of what others have said about the moral duties of salespeople and formulate what I take to be a more plausible theory. My theory avoids the objections I raise against others and yields plausible results when applied to cases. I also defend my theory by appeal to the golden rule and offer a justification for the version of the golden rule to which I appeal. I argue that salespeople have prima facie duties to do the following: 1. warn customers of potential hazards, 2. refrain from lying and deception, 3. fully and honestly answer questions about what they are selling, and 4. refrain from steering customers toward purchases they have reason to think will harm the customers. The paper concludes with a brief appendix that discusses the implications of the ethics of sales for the social responsibilities of business.

Business Ethics and Extant Social Contracts

1991 ◽  
Vol 1 (01) ◽  
pp. 23-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas W. Dunfee
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
Social Contract ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Prima Facie ◽  
Theoretical Research ◽  
Priority Rules ◽  
Ethical Theories ◽  
Social Contracts ◽  
The Social ◽  
Ethical Norms

Extant social contracts, deriving from communities of individuals, constitute a significant source of ethical norms in business. When found consistent with general ethical theories through the application of a filtering test, these real social contracts generate prima facie duties of compliance on the part of those who expressly or impliedly consent to the terms of the social contract, and also on the part of those who take advantage of the instrumental value of the social contracts. Businesspeople typically participate in multiple communities and, as a consequence, encounter conflicting ethical norms. Priority rules can be devised to resolve such conflicts. The framework of extant social contracts merges normative and theoretical research in business ethics and specifies a domain for empirical studies.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document