Revisiting Carr’s Business Bluff: Opinions on the Ethics of Playing the Game

This article is a response to Albert Carr’s business bluff compared to a poker game article in the Harvard Business Review “Is Business Bluffing Ethical? The Ethics of Business are not Those of Society, but Rather Those of the Poker Game”. Opinions are given on the ethical dilemmas which are deemed legal and acceptable in the business world by Carr.

Die postkeynesianische Ökonomik in der Finanzethik des katholischen Sozialethikers Bernhard Emunds – Diskussion aus einer angebotsorientierten Perspektive

Bernhard Emunds, a German Catholic social ethicist, is engaged in research into financial markets. This article introduces post-Keynesianism as his economic foundation, followed by a description of conclusions Emunds draws about the regulation of financial markets. Thereafter, implications of the post-Keynesian framework are contrasted with those of supply-side economics. The article finally appraises the suitability of post-Keynesianism as an economic foundation for Catholic social teaching.

Religion als Anreiz für Kooperation

Might religion function as an incentive for cooperation? This article defends that religion is an incentive for cooperation from both an evolutionary perspective (based on game-theoretical models) and a philosophical perspective. Religion (defined as god-fearing behavior) can be described as evolutionary advantageous since one refrained from actions perceived as immoral and contrary to God’s will. Under the assumption that god-fearing behavior is equal to cooperative behavior, god-fearing behavior is a corrective for ethical failure. However, even today religion can function as a corrective for ethical failure: religion can dissolve the contrast between morality and self-interest by promoting one’s ability to see an intrinsic value in cooperative, moral behavior.

Migrationsreduktion durch Entwicklungszusammenarbeit? Eine ökonomische Analyse am Beispiel Afrikas

The so-called “migration hump” describes the inverted U-shaped relationship between development and migration. In relatively poor countries, development leads to increasing migration, as the budget constraint of potential migrants loosens. By contrast, in relatively rich countries, this relationship is reversed because the incentive to migrate is negligibly small. We discuss the implications of this empirical finding for development cooperation with African countries and conclude that further development would rather increase than reduce migration. As a consequence, the capture of development policy by a restrictive migration policy is not expedient, as they follow different normative rationales, and hampers the effectiveness of development policy.

Altersrationierung im Gesundheitswesen – ein wirtschaftsethisch vertretbarer Weg?

Die im Alter exponentiell zunehmenden Krankheitskosten sind Anlass dafür, in alternden Gesellschaften mit medizinisch-technischem Fortschritt und steigenden Gesundheitswünschen der Bevölkerung neben anderen Rationierungsformen auch über altersabhängige Begrenzungen von Gesundheitsleistungen nachzudenken. Zuteilungsbeschränkungen sind generell moralsensible Entscheidungen, da Gesundheit unabhängig vom Alter der Person ein besonderes Gut ist, um persönliche Lebenspläne umsetzen zu können; sie weist neben privaten auch öffentliche und meritorische Gutseigenschaften auf. In der Debatte um Altersrationierungen werden utilitaristische, kontraktualistische und neoaristotelische Rechtfer tigungsversuche vertreten. Alle Ansätze scheitern in einer wertepluralistischen Gesellschaft letztlich daran, dass sie ohne Rückgriff auf spezifische Wertprämissen nicht auskommen. Für altersmäßige Rationierungen bei aufwändigen, lebensverlän gernden Therapien der Intensivmedizin sprechen allerdings pragmatische Vorzüge, zumal die Option privater Zusatzabsicherung bestehen würde.

A Rawlsian perspective on the institutional limits of lobbying the European Commission

In the process of drafting European Union (EU) legislation and supervising its effective national implementation, the European Commission has to cooperate with lobbyists. This exchange involves the risk of arbitrary lobby influence on its decisions at the expense of other EU citizens. Against this backdrop, this article addresses the research question of which normative principles should constrain the Commission’s interaction with lobbyists. Based on the contractarian approach from Rawls’ Law of Peoples, it identifies eight criteria of a Rawlsian lobby consultation system for the Commission, which representatives of EU countries could accept from behind a Rawlsian veil of ignorance and in view of the fundamental interest of their people. These normative criteria can be supervised by independent institutions like the European Parliament and the European Court of Justice. They constitute a procedural approach to the political supervision of the Commission’s interaction with lobbyists that can be enforced without compromising its necessary institutional independence.

Aus der Not geboren oder sinnvolle Substitution? Chancen und Grenzen des Einsatzes von „Pflegerobotern“ in der stationären Altenpflege aus ethischer Sicht

This article deals with a differentiated examination of robotics and its evaluation in inpatient geriatric care. It examines the extent to which nursing robots fit into person-centered nursing work and possibly change it significantly. The advantages and new possibilities are shown, but also the dangers and problems from the point of view of different area ethics are pointed out. In the centre of the considerations are residents and employees as a benchmark for the ethical evaluation of robots in geriatric care.

Praktischer Weisheit nach-denken. Wirtschaftsethische Orientierung am Standort Ingolstadt in der Tradition von Johannes Eck

In the late Middle Ages, the canonical prohibition of interest increasingly came into conflict with an ever more dynamic economic practice. The Ingolstadt based theology professor Johannes Eck is better known as Catholic opponent of Martin Luther; however, he also worked more strongly than his academic contemporaries against fundamentalist business ethics theories thereby actively searching public debate. Subsequently, he became forerunner and point of reference for academic theory, which is committed to the struggle of merchants and entrepreneurs to shape their forms of practice responsibly.