BUSINESS AND CONSUMER
ETHICS
2021 Semester 2
2020 - 2021
Jane doe
,Inhoudsopgave
Introduction _______________________________________________________________ 3
What is ethics __________________________________________________________________ 3
The ethical demand _____________________________________________________________ 4
Threefold characteristics _________________________________________________________________ 4
Disruptive nature _______________________________________________________________________ 6
What is applied ethics ___________________________________________________________ 6
Twofold meaning of ethos ________________________________________________________________ 7
Forms of ethics _________________________________________________________________________ 8
General remarks ________________________________________________________________ 9
H1: reasons against business ethics ____________________________________________ 10
6 problems with business ethics __________________________________________________ 10
H2: common sense business ethics ____________________________________________ 12
What is business _______________________________________________________________ 12
What is ethics _________________________________________________________________ 13
What is Business ethics__________________________________________________________________ 14
What is common sense _________________________________________________________________ 15
What is philosophy? ____________________________________________________________________ 15
H3: Business ethics 1: consequences ___________________________________________ 16
Utilitarianism _________________________________________________________________ 16
Felicific Calculus _______________________________________________________________ 17
Criticisms of utilitarianism _______________________________________________________ 18
Utilitarianism conclusion ________________________________________________________ 19
H4: Business ethics 2: Intentions ______________________________________________ 20
Immanuel Kant’s ethical theory ___________________________________________________ 21
Fact of reason _________________________________________________________________________ 21
Two kinds of duties _____________________________________________________________________ 22
3 formulations of categorical imperatives (CI) _______________________________________________ 22
How to (ab)use Kant in Business ethics – Bowie Norman_______________________________ 23
Duty and moral conflict _________________________________________________________________ 23
Duty and freedom ______________________________________________________________________ 24
Duty and happiness ____________________________________________________________________ 24
H5: Business ethics 3: Virtues ethics ___________________________________________ 26
Introduction __________________________________________________________________ 26
Aristotle’s (384 – 322 BC) conception of ethics _______________________________________________ 27
Virtue and business ____________________________________________________________ 28
R. Solomon ___________________________________________________________________________ 29
Virtue and community __________________________________________________________ 29
Business communities __________________________________________________________ 31
,H6: the meaning of ethics____________________________________________________ 32
Introduction: the charm of business ethics __________________________________________ 32
Meaning _____________________________________________________________________ 33
The meaning of ethics___________________________________________________________ 34
Others and the other ___________________________________________________________ 35
The other and critique __________________________________________________________ 36
H7: denying ethics 1: bureaucracy _____________________________________________ 37
Introduction __________________________________________________________________ 37
The Banality of Evil _____________________________________________________________ 37
Milgram experiments ___________________________________________________________________ 38
Max weber ___________________________________________________________________________ 39
McEthics: what happens if Weber comes to a halt? ___________________________________ 40
Emotivism – Stevenson__________________________________________________________________ 40
Intentions and consequences _____________________________________________________ 41
In praise of bureaucracy _________________________________________________________ 41
, Introduction
What is ethics
You can’t talk about business ethics without properly referring to what ethics is about.
Ethics → what it means to be a human being.
The only living being who asks himself ethical questions is an actual ‘human being’.
All other forms of life don’t actually raise ethical questions for example animals.
→ don’t have ethics and for example ‘eat’ each other or ‘hunt’
→ They don’t actually have the sense of feelings at some point
As a human being we’re not allowed to murder another being (no animals and no human beings).
→ We’re kind of dealing with some kind of prescription and things may or have to be done.
→ regulations or what we should do to have a good life as a human being
→ Things that as a human we have to do or may not do = prescription = normative
Freedom raises questions towards the behaviour we have as a human being.
→ are there basics to human freedom is a good question to ask in ethics.
→ restricted by any ethics, it actually tells us that we have some kind of limited freedom.
→ Humans are actually stimulated by different impulses and sometimes we can’t really feel ‘free’.
→ Are we really free = rules by our instincts
we claim that we are free but are we really free to make our own choices about everything or are we
directed by stress, greed or our own willing,…
Normativity = talking about what you can and cannot do
• If there would be no normativity you do not differ from an animal = acts on instincts
▪ If we say that nothing is obligated and do what we do whatever we want to do than we’re
mixing ourselves with other beings such as animals
▪ The fact that we say that we differ from animals seems to be build upon the fact that there
are certain obligations in life, we can’t just do what we want to do
Humanity
• What it is what makes us human beings
▪ We differ to the extent that we raise questions about our choices
▪ Animals do not discuss their behaviour
• Lacking an ethical sense is actually a way of degrading yourself to a low value being
▪ Humans have the capacity to reasoning
ETHICS
2021 Semester 2
2020 - 2021
Jane doe
,Inhoudsopgave
Introduction _______________________________________________________________ 3
What is ethics __________________________________________________________________ 3
The ethical demand _____________________________________________________________ 4
Threefold characteristics _________________________________________________________________ 4
Disruptive nature _______________________________________________________________________ 6
What is applied ethics ___________________________________________________________ 6
Twofold meaning of ethos ________________________________________________________________ 7
Forms of ethics _________________________________________________________________________ 8
General remarks ________________________________________________________________ 9
H1: reasons against business ethics ____________________________________________ 10
6 problems with business ethics __________________________________________________ 10
H2: common sense business ethics ____________________________________________ 12
What is business _______________________________________________________________ 12
What is ethics _________________________________________________________________ 13
What is Business ethics__________________________________________________________________ 14
What is common sense _________________________________________________________________ 15
What is philosophy? ____________________________________________________________________ 15
H3: Business ethics 1: consequences ___________________________________________ 16
Utilitarianism _________________________________________________________________ 16
Felicific Calculus _______________________________________________________________ 17
Criticisms of utilitarianism _______________________________________________________ 18
Utilitarianism conclusion ________________________________________________________ 19
H4: Business ethics 2: Intentions ______________________________________________ 20
Immanuel Kant’s ethical theory ___________________________________________________ 21
Fact of reason _________________________________________________________________________ 21
Two kinds of duties _____________________________________________________________________ 22
3 formulations of categorical imperatives (CI) _______________________________________________ 22
How to (ab)use Kant in Business ethics – Bowie Norman_______________________________ 23
Duty and moral conflict _________________________________________________________________ 23
Duty and freedom ______________________________________________________________________ 24
Duty and happiness ____________________________________________________________________ 24
H5: Business ethics 3: Virtues ethics ___________________________________________ 26
Introduction __________________________________________________________________ 26
Aristotle’s (384 – 322 BC) conception of ethics _______________________________________________ 27
Virtue and business ____________________________________________________________ 28
R. Solomon ___________________________________________________________________________ 29
Virtue and community __________________________________________________________ 29
Business communities __________________________________________________________ 31
,H6: the meaning of ethics____________________________________________________ 32
Introduction: the charm of business ethics __________________________________________ 32
Meaning _____________________________________________________________________ 33
The meaning of ethics___________________________________________________________ 34
Others and the other ___________________________________________________________ 35
The other and critique __________________________________________________________ 36
H7: denying ethics 1: bureaucracy _____________________________________________ 37
Introduction __________________________________________________________________ 37
The Banality of Evil _____________________________________________________________ 37
Milgram experiments ___________________________________________________________________ 38
Max weber ___________________________________________________________________________ 39
McEthics: what happens if Weber comes to a halt? ___________________________________ 40
Emotivism – Stevenson__________________________________________________________________ 40
Intentions and consequences _____________________________________________________ 41
In praise of bureaucracy _________________________________________________________ 41
, Introduction
What is ethics
You can’t talk about business ethics without properly referring to what ethics is about.
Ethics → what it means to be a human being.
The only living being who asks himself ethical questions is an actual ‘human being’.
All other forms of life don’t actually raise ethical questions for example animals.
→ don’t have ethics and for example ‘eat’ each other or ‘hunt’
→ They don’t actually have the sense of feelings at some point
As a human being we’re not allowed to murder another being (no animals and no human beings).
→ We’re kind of dealing with some kind of prescription and things may or have to be done.
→ regulations or what we should do to have a good life as a human being
→ Things that as a human we have to do or may not do = prescription = normative
Freedom raises questions towards the behaviour we have as a human being.
→ are there basics to human freedom is a good question to ask in ethics.
→ restricted by any ethics, it actually tells us that we have some kind of limited freedom.
→ Humans are actually stimulated by different impulses and sometimes we can’t really feel ‘free’.
→ Are we really free = rules by our instincts
we claim that we are free but are we really free to make our own choices about everything or are we
directed by stress, greed or our own willing,…
Normativity = talking about what you can and cannot do
• If there would be no normativity you do not differ from an animal = acts on instincts
▪ If we say that nothing is obligated and do what we do whatever we want to do than we’re
mixing ourselves with other beings such as animals
▪ The fact that we say that we differ from animals seems to be build upon the fact that there
are certain obligations in life, we can’t just do what we want to do
Humanity
• What it is what makes us human beings
▪ We differ to the extent that we raise questions about our choices
▪ Animals do not discuss their behaviour
• Lacking an ethical sense is actually a way of degrading yourself to a low value being
▪ Humans have the capacity to reasoning
