Assessing William James' Potential Contribution to Business Ethics

2018 ◽  
pp. 193-208
Author(s):  
Dennis P. McCann
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
William James ◽  
Potential Contribution

When Organization Theory Met Business Ethics: Toward Further Symbioses

2010 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 643-672 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pursey P. M. A. R. Heugens ◽  
Andreas Georg Scherer
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
Organization Theory ◽  
Professional Associations ◽  
Final Part ◽  
Potential Contribution ◽  
Scientific Journals ◽  
Concise Overview ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
Research Themes ◽  
As If

ABSTRACT:Organization theory and business ethics are essentially the positive and normative sides of the very same coin, reflecting on how human cooperative activities are organized and how they ought to be organized respectively. It is therefore unfortunate that—due to the relatively impermeable manmade boundaries segregating the corresponding scholarly communities into separate schools and departments, professional associations, and scientific journals—the potential symbiosis between the two fields has not yet fully materialized. In this essay we make a modest attempt at establishing further connectivity by surveying the terrain covered by the two disciplines jointly, as if the boundaries between them did not matter. We commence by providing a concise overview of the organization theory discipline for interested non-specialists from the field of business ethics. Next, we proceed to point out four research themes commonly investigated by members of both communities, and also a variety of organization-theoretical perspectives on each. In the final part of this essay we explore what organization theory has to offer business ethics, and what the boundaries of that potential contribution are. We warn skeptical readers in advance that the spirit and tone of our essay is most definitely upbeat, as we are convinced that the potential for symbiosis between the two fields is vast and inspiring, even though it has only been unleashed partially and incidentally thus far.

scholarly journals William James and British thought: then and now

2019 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 53-56
Author(s):  
David E. Leary
Keyword(s):  
Physiological Psychology ◽  
Evolutionary Theory ◽  
William James ◽  
Potential Contribution ◽  
Theoretical Conclusion ◽  
Therapeutic Practice ◽  
Cognition And Emotion ◽  
American Psychologist ◽  
Mind And Brain

The American psychologist and philosopher William James drew inspiration from British evolutionary theory, neurology, psychiatry, psychology and philosophy. Trained in anatomy, physiology and medicine, he developed a physiological psychology that offered acute analyses of consciousness and of the relations between mind and brain, habit and thought, cognition and emotion and other aspects of psychology. One of his insights, regarding the relation between attention and will, was based upon his own experience of panic anxiety, which was resolved through his reading of several British authors. The story of his psychiatric experience, practical response and later theoretical conclusion offers a potential contribution to contemporary therapeutic practice.

scholarly journals Can Quantitative Research Solve Social Problems? Pragmatism and the Ethics of Social Research

2019 ◽  
Vol 167 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas C. Powell
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Business Ethics ◽  
Racial Inequality ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Social Problems ◽  
William James ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Ethical Practices ◽  
James I ◽  
Journal Of Business Ethics

Abstract Journal of Business Ethics recently published a critique of ethical practices in quantitative research by Zyphur and Pierides (J Bus Ethics 143:1–16, 2017). The authors argued that quantitative research prevents researchers from addressing urgent problems facing humanity today, such as poverty, racial inequality, and climate change. I offer comments and observations on the authors’ critique. I agree with the authors in many areas of philosophy, ethics, and social research, while making suggestions for clarification and development. Interpreting the paper through the pragmatism of William James, I suggest that the authors’ arguments are unlikely to change attitudes in traditional quantitative research, though they may point the way to a new worldview, or Jamesian “sub-world,” in social research.

Reflections on the Practical Relevance of Feminist Thought to Business

1996 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 523-531 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew C. Wicks
Keyword(s):  
Business Ethics ◽  
Stakeholder Theory ◽  
Potential Contribution ◽  
Practical Relevance ◽  
Feminist Ethics ◽  
Feminist Thought ◽  
The Feminine ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Moral Grounding

AbstractI appreciate the opportunity to comment on two recent papers (Burton and Dunn, “Feminist Ethics as Moral Grounding for Stakeholder Theory” and Dobson, “The Feminine Firm: A Comment”—both in the April 1996 edition of BEQ) which deal with the subject of feminism in business ethics. Both raise important issues for how we think about the relevance and potential contribution of feminist thought to this area of research.

Evolutionary Psychology and Business Ethics Research

2009 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 587-616 ◽  
Author(s):  
David M. Wasieleski ◽  
Sefa Hayibor
Keyword(s):  
Natural Selection ◽  
Business Ethics ◽  
Evolutionary Psychology ◽  
Social Exchange ◽  
Levels Of Analysis ◽  
Cultural Norms ◽  
Potential Contribution ◽  
Ethics Research ◽  
Multiple Levels ◽  
Future Business

ABSTRACT:In this article, we describe evolutionary psychology and its potential contribution to business ethics research. After summarizing evolutionary theory and natural selection, we specifically address the use of evolutionary concepts in psychology in order to offer alternative explanations of behavior relevant to business ethics, such as social exchange, cooperation, altruism, and reciprocity. Our position is that individuals, groups, and organizations all are affected by similar natural, evolutionary processes, such that evolutionary psychology is applicable at multiple levels of analysis (e.g., individual and group). We introduce a variety of experiments and instruments employed by evolutionary psychologists to illustrate how ethics-relevant cultural norms and practices evolve and are regulated, and to raise the prospect that these experiments and instruments can be useful in future business ethics research.

A pragmatist philosophy of psychological science and its implications for replication

2018 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Gantman ◽  
Robin Gomila ◽  
Joel E. Martinez ◽  
J. Nathan Matias ◽  
Elizabeth Levy Paluck ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
William James ◽  
Mental Processes ◽  
Psychological Science ◽  
Behavioral Measurement ◽  
The World ◽  
Pragmatist Philosophy

AbstractA pragmatist philosophy of psychological science offers to the direct replication debate concrete recommendations and novel benefits that are not discussed in Zwaan et al. This philosophy guides our work as field experimentalists interested in behavioral measurement. Furthermore, all psychologists can relate to its ultimate aim set out by William James: to study mental processes that provide explanations for why people behave as they do in the world.

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