Business Ethics and Leadership
Questions and Answers
Descriptive
✓ ~~~ Spelling out the ethical theories
people actually hold
Philosophical
✓ ~~~ Evaluating the justifications for different ethical theories; finding the best views
Moral Realism
✓ ~~~ The theories will are examining are moral realist theories which supposed that:
✓ Moral value and principles are objective (mind- independent/real)
✓ Moral values or principles are universally valid (apply to everyone)
✓ • What about moral anti-realism? Comes in several varieties:
✓ Moral Relativism - moral facts are relative to culture Moral Subjectivism - moral facts are
relative to individuals Moral Skepticism - moral facts cannot be known Moral Nihilism -
moral facts are not real
Moral Psychology
✓ ~~~ Moral psychologists have identified the way we actually make moral judgments and
decisions
This is a descriptive endeavor
Toby Groves' Story
✓ ~~~ Guy who said he's never commit fraud then did
Promise to his father
• Successful mortgage loan company, good reputation
,• Company falls $250,000 into debt
• Fraudulent loan #1: falsified income on mortgage loan application Not enough;
company in deeper debt
• More fraud: "air loans" on nonexistent properties Help from his own employees and
employees at title companies
• Busted by FBI; pretty much immediate confession • ~100 jobs, ~$7 million lost
Homo Economicus
✓ ~~~ Humans are fundamentally and consistently rational.
We know what we want.We consistently take the means to get
what we want.
•Irrationality is a rare departure from the norm.
System 1 vs. System 2
✓ ~~~ System 1Automatic, quick, often subconscious Tunnel vision, acting on a
script/schema
• System 2Slow, requires effort & concentration Thinking things through
Heuristics
✓ ~~~ simple efficient rules used to form judgments and make decisions
Quick, relatively automatic Often subconscious
Biases
, ✓ ~~~ when heuristics lead us astray
Hurricane Charley
✓ ~~~ What happened in Florida after hurricane Charley?
Terrible damage, huge power losses Major price increases for water, food, ice,
generators, hotels, roof repair, etc.
Claims of price-gouging
Anti-price-gouging laws used to impose penalties
Uber Surge Pricing
✓ ~~~ When there's lots of demand, Uber jacks up the price Supposed to incentivize more
drivers to be on the road
(help supply meet demand) Designed to keep waiting times down
• New Year's Eve, Early New Year's DayPrices 4-10 the usual rateLots of would-be
riders pay way more than intended Others are "priced out"
The Big 3 Moral Considerations
✓ ~~~ 1. Welfare—promoting well-being
for everyone
2. Freedom—respecting autonomy, holding people responsible
3. Virtue—promoting good character
Challenges to Ethics
, ✓ ~~~ Nihilism: there are no true moral principles
Moral skepticism: we can't know the true moral principles
Relativism, subjectivism: moral principles hold true only relative to particular cultures
or individuals
Early Ethics: Virtue
✓ ~~~ Ethics in Ancient Greece, China (2000+ years ago)
•Focus on good character, not merely right actions
"How to be?" rather than "what to do?"
What is virtue?
✓ ~~~ What makes a person good, virtuous? Developing their nature wellVirtue = moral
excellenceVice = moral deficiency
About habits
• Analogy: a good person & a good knifeHave to know a knife's purpose to know if it
is good Why? Fulfillment of purpose = good
Utilitarianism
✓ ~~~ Do what promotes the best consequences
"Greatest good for the greatest number"
Depends on the facts on the ground—what really does promote the most good for
the most people
• What are the best consequences? What is good? Pleasure (Bentham)Pleasures
(Mill)Desire satisfaction (contemporary - Hare, Singer)
Questions and Answers
Descriptive
✓ ~~~ Spelling out the ethical theories
people actually hold
Philosophical
✓ ~~~ Evaluating the justifications for different ethical theories; finding the best views
Moral Realism
✓ ~~~ The theories will are examining are moral realist theories which supposed that:
✓ Moral value and principles are objective (mind- independent/real)
✓ Moral values or principles are universally valid (apply to everyone)
✓ • What about moral anti-realism? Comes in several varieties:
✓ Moral Relativism - moral facts are relative to culture Moral Subjectivism - moral facts are
relative to individuals Moral Skepticism - moral facts cannot be known Moral Nihilism -
moral facts are not real
Moral Psychology
✓ ~~~ Moral psychologists have identified the way we actually make moral judgments and
decisions
This is a descriptive endeavor
Toby Groves' Story
✓ ~~~ Guy who said he's never commit fraud then did
Promise to his father
• Successful mortgage loan company, good reputation
,• Company falls $250,000 into debt
• Fraudulent loan #1: falsified income on mortgage loan application Not enough;
company in deeper debt
• More fraud: "air loans" on nonexistent properties Help from his own employees and
employees at title companies
• Busted by FBI; pretty much immediate confession • ~100 jobs, ~$7 million lost
Homo Economicus
✓ ~~~ Humans are fundamentally and consistently rational.
We know what we want.We consistently take the means to get
what we want.
•Irrationality is a rare departure from the norm.
System 1 vs. System 2
✓ ~~~ System 1Automatic, quick, often subconscious Tunnel vision, acting on a
script/schema
• System 2Slow, requires effort & concentration Thinking things through
Heuristics
✓ ~~~ simple efficient rules used to form judgments and make decisions
Quick, relatively automatic Often subconscious
Biases
, ✓ ~~~ when heuristics lead us astray
Hurricane Charley
✓ ~~~ What happened in Florida after hurricane Charley?
Terrible damage, huge power losses Major price increases for water, food, ice,
generators, hotels, roof repair, etc.
Claims of price-gouging
Anti-price-gouging laws used to impose penalties
Uber Surge Pricing
✓ ~~~ When there's lots of demand, Uber jacks up the price Supposed to incentivize more
drivers to be on the road
(help supply meet demand) Designed to keep waiting times down
• New Year's Eve, Early New Year's DayPrices 4-10 the usual rateLots of would-be
riders pay way more than intended Others are "priced out"
The Big 3 Moral Considerations
✓ ~~~ 1. Welfare—promoting well-being
for everyone
2. Freedom—respecting autonomy, holding people responsible
3. Virtue—promoting good character
Challenges to Ethics
, ✓ ~~~ Nihilism: there are no true moral principles
Moral skepticism: we can't know the true moral principles
Relativism, subjectivism: moral principles hold true only relative to particular cultures
or individuals
Early Ethics: Virtue
✓ ~~~ Ethics in Ancient Greece, China (2000+ years ago)
•Focus on good character, not merely right actions
"How to be?" rather than "what to do?"
What is virtue?
✓ ~~~ What makes a person good, virtuous? Developing their nature wellVirtue = moral
excellenceVice = moral deficiency
About habits
• Analogy: a good person & a good knifeHave to know a knife's purpose to know if it
is good Why? Fulfillment of purpose = good
Utilitarianism
✓ ~~~ Do what promotes the best consequences
"Greatest good for the greatest number"
Depends on the facts on the ground—what really does promote the most good for
the most people
• What are the best consequences? What is good? Pleasure (Bentham)Pleasures
(Mill)Desire satisfaction (contemporary - Hare, Singer)
