Samenvatting - Complete summary Ethics 2024 (E_IBA3_ETH)

Ethics summary (complete)
Week 1
Knowledge clip
Ethical dilemmas: Ethical dilemmas involve conflicts between equally compelling ethical values or
principles. When faced with such dilemmas, one must navigate through conflicting duties.

Ethical decision-making involves:

 Recognizing alternatives: Understanding possible actions and their ethical implications,
considering underlying assumptions and ethical principles.
 Identifying stakeholders: Assessing who is affected, emphasizing the ethical perspective over
economic or other outcomes.
 Identifying consequences: Assessing how the stakeholders are affected.

Clashing values: Ethical problems arise from clashes between legitimate values or principles,
necessitating a balance to resolve ethical dilemmas.

What ethical behavior is not:

 Feelings and emotions
 Religious beliefs
 Adherence to law
 Social conventions
 Scientific knowledge

These factors can inform ethical decisions but do not solely constitute ethical behavior.

Foundations of ethical principles: What is the basis on which we can ground ethical principles? Different
thinkers provide different bases. To name a few:

 Aristotle’s virtue ethics
 Kant’s emphasis on human dignity
 Utilitarianism's focus on outcomes
 Rawls' perspective on fairness and sharing fate
 Communitarianism’s value on community obligations

Lecture
Ethics defined: Ethics stems from the Greek word "êthos," meaning character, custom, or habit, and
deals with moral principles, values, duties, and obligations.

Business science and ethics:

 Focuses on the ethical considerations of organizations as agents within markets and society,
raising questions about ethical justifications for actions and decisions.
 Explores the impact of markets on society and vice versa, prompting discussions on the ethical
regulation of markets and the reflection of societal values in market practices.

, Week 2
Knowledge clip 1
Aristotle asks himself:

 How should men best live?
 What is the highest good?

Eudaimonia: A state of happiness, flourishing, or well-being, considered the highest good.

 Characterized as:
o Self-sufficient.
o Desirable for its own sake.
o The ultimate goal of life.
 Sought by everyone, but interpretations vary between common perceptions and philosophical
insights.
 Not equated with pleasure, wealth, or honor, as these lack self-sufficiency or depend on external
factors.

Telos: The purpose or end goal that defines the essence of something, especially human life.

 Aristotle employs teleological reasoning to assert that everything, including humans, has a
specific purpose.
 The pursuit of eudaimonia is tied to fulfilling one's telos, implying a life aligned with one's
inherent purpose.

Knowledge clip 2
Human telos: The unique end or purpose that characterizes human existence.

 Aristotle identifies rational activity (logos) as the defining element of human telos, setting
humans apart from other forms of life.
 The telos of humans involves engaging in life activities guided by reason and rational principles.

Logos: Reason, structured thought, or speech, crucial for ethical living and political engagement.

 Connects ethical behavior to political life by highlighting the role of communal standards in
discerning good and bad.

Arete: Excellence or virtue in fulfilling one's purpose or function.

 Human arete: Living a life that embodies rational virtues and ethical actions.
 Involves the practice of virtues through rational activity, shaping a life that aspires towards
eudaimonia.

Eudaimonia and ethical virtues: Achieving a state of well-being through the practice of rational virtues
and ethical living. Emphasizes a life led by reason, where rational deliberation guides desires and actions
towards the good life.

Aristotle: “Man is, by nature, a political animal. The polis is the perfect place to practice this virtue.”