Business Ethics: True and False

1. Business Ethics: True and False by Machan and Chesher

2. Authors on the Defensive • Many feel that business ethics is bogus. • The main virtue in business is prudence. • (Using practical reason) • Prudence is seen as egoistic & selfish. • Therefore business is seen as amoral. • Business ethics is, therefore, often taught as “business bashing”.

3. The Common “Kantian” View • Two popular positions on the source of human actions: • 1. Nature (Genetics): We are hard-wired. • 2. Nurture: We are shaped by our environment. • What about Free Will? • Kant suggests only inner-self has free-will. • It is only the “thought” that counts. • Results and Consequences are irrelevant.

4. If business is evil from the start . . . • Then people don’t expect morality from businessmen. • Then people only expect business to abide by the law—no more nor no less. • Then morality is determined by the political process. • Then Legal positivism reigns. • This is a serious form of relativism.

5. Machan & Chesher’s View • People’s needs are morally relevant. • Business is then an honorable profession. • Consequences are important. • Making a profit is morally good. • Business should be approached from the perspective that it is important.

6. Good afternoon, good evening, and goodnight.