Loading...
Ciceronian Business Ethics
Goldin, Owen
Goldin, Owen
Author(s)
Goldin, Owen
Contributor(s)
Keywords
morality
business ethics
business ethics
GE Subjects
Collections
Files
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Online Access
Abstract
The teaching and practice of business must resist ethical compartmentalization. One engaged in business ought not check moral principles at the door and say "business is business," for this is to pretend that when one is engaged in business, one is no longer a human being, with the rational nature, emotional constitution, and social bonds that are at the root of our ethical nature. Ethical standards apply to business as they do all aspects of human life. Nonetheless, making money is the goal of business, and more often than not, one is trying to take money from another, at the least possible cost. Such action is necessarily self-centered, if not selfish, and requires acting in a way that we would not want to see people act in all of their dealings with others, especially in regard to family, friends, and others with whom they have special social bonds. Granting that business practices are not compartmentalized against all ethical considerations, the fact that business demands maximization of profit entails that special rules apply. Determining what these are, in what circumstances they are less demanding than the ethical principles of everyday life, and in what circumstances they are more demanding, is the domain of business ethics, as a special domain of ethical philosophy.
Note(s)
Topic
Type
Article
Date
2006
Identifier
ISBN
DOI
Copyright/License
With permission of the license/copyright holder