Recent Work in Ethical Theory and Its Implications for Business Ethics

Abstract

<jats:title>ABSTRACT:</jats:title><jats:p>We review recent developments in ethical pluralism, ethical particularism, Kantian intuitionism, rights theory, and climate change ethics, and show the relevance of these developments in ethical theory to contemporary business ethics. This paper explains why pluralists think that ethical decisions should be guided by multiple standards and why particularists emphasize the crucial role of context in determining sound moral judgments. We explain why Kantian intuitionism emphasizes the discerning power of intuitive reason and seek to integrate that with the comprehensiveness of Kant’s moral framework. And we show how human rights can be grounded in human agency, and explain the connections between human rights and climate change.</jats:p>

Business Ethics in North America: Trends and Challenges

“…Ethical Pluralism, particularism, intuition, and human rights' treatments in a non-derivative manner (e.g., Arnold et al 2010;Cragg 2009) and integrity capacity theory (e.g., Petrick 2008) have added conceptual depth and insight into resolving complex business ethics issues. In addressing complex contemporary business moral issues, recent ethics research proposes that moral expertise requires more than the mastery of a single, conventional moral theory like utilitarianism and that moral knowledge requires the integrated use of multiple principles along with the exercise of sound judgment guided by moral imagination (Werhane 1999(Werhane , 2002(Werhane , 2007Goodpaster 2010).…”

The Normative Foundations of Unethical Supervision in Organizations

“…Right to Dignity While some refer to dignity as a right in and of itself, others use human dignity as a starting point for asserting the existence of all other individual rights (Arnold et al 2010;Radin and Werhane 2003;Toth 2008). Regardless of the conceptualization of dignity, most deontological theories encompass some notion of human dignity which is tightly tied to respect (Toth 2008).…”

“…Rights are often conceptualized as entitlements, privileges, or protections owed to all humans (Arnold et al 2010;Donaldson 1989;Kirby 1985;Radin and Werhane 2003). As Donaldson (1989, p. 167) explains, ''Rights establish minimum levels of morally acceptable behavior.''…”

“…Many multinational organizations such as the United Nations, the International Labour Organization, and The European Social Charter use deontological frameworks when describing attributes of ethical workplace conditions (Arnold et al 2010;Donaldson and Dunfee 1994;Toth 2008).…”

Adaptation du modèle de développement moral de Kohlberg à l’analyse des chartes éthiques informationnelles dans un contexte multiculturel

“…Le principe de la sagesse pratique serait donc davantage en phase avec une vision pluraliste et/ou particulariste de l'éthique (Arnold et al, 2010) qui rend mieux compte de la complexité et de la diversité des situations et contextes qui entourent l'être ou l'agir que l'on cherche à qualifier d'éthique. Ce qui le situe à la frontière de la vision moraliste et des visions alternatives jugées plus relativistes et donc quelque part plus réalistes à l'exemple de l'approche pragmatique de l'éthique.…”