This document discusses the philosophical background of business ethics. It describes several philosophical schools of thought regarding ethics, including Greek/Roman ethics focusing on virtue, knowledge and moderation; Christian ethics based on loving God and others; Utilitarianism aiming to maximize pleasure for the most people; and Pragmatism viewing morality as resolving conflicts of desires. The document also discusses other approaches like Naturalism, Rationalism, Humanism and Hedonism. It notes that Confucius believed righteousness starts with self-governance by individuals. In the end, it poses debate questions about which ethical philosophy one would support or oppose, including justifications.

2.  Rationale for Business Ethics
 Purposes of Business Ethics
 Definition ofTerms
 Scope and Basis of Business Ethics
 The Philosophical Background of Business
ethics

3.  This separates man from the rest of the
animal kingdom, transforming him into a
rational moral being- one who has the ability
to discern wrong and to decide what is good
for him and for his society

4.  Moral considerations- business ethics
provides opportunity for man to practice his
morality, to apply his own standards of right
and wrong in business.
 Religious considerations- it provides an
outlet for the religious to practice the
teachings of their religion through their
dealings with fellow human beings.

5.  Professional considerations- a professional
man exhibits the competence, honesty and
fair dealing that professionalism requires him
to do.
 Profit considerations- man needs to be
reminded that he is in business not just for
today but for all the tomorrows that are yet
to come.

6.  To help businessmen and would-be
businessmen to determine what business
practices are right and what are wrong

7.  To make businessmen realize that one cannot employ
double standards to the actions of other people and to
their own actions- what is wrong for other people
should also be wrong to them.(e.g cheating)
 To show businessmen that common practices which
they have thought to be right because they see other
businessmen doing it are really wrong – (before 9.00;
now 8.97)
 To serve as a standard or ideal upon which business
conduct may be based.- conscience must continually
be activated by feeding it with knowlege; with rules of
what is good or evil.

8.  Business- those lawful activities engaged in by
human beings which are involved in producing
and exchanging goods and services so as to have
means of livelihood
 Ethics- moral standards of right and wrong in
conduct, judgement and behavior.
 Moral- a good and a right choice. Moral comes
from the Latin word “moralis” which means
customs or ways of life.The related term ethics
is from the Greek word “ethos” which also means
customs. Morals and ethics are synonymous.
What is moral is also ethical. An action is morally
right if it leads to physical, intellectual, spiritual,
personal and social development.

9.  Immoral-a bad or a wrong choice.What is
immoral is also unethical. An action is morally
wrong if it is detrimental to the individual or to is
society.
 Business Ethics- Standards or moral conduct,
behavior and judgement in business
 Fair business competition- a form of business
competition where a businessmen gets the
opportunity where a businessmen gets the
opportunity to serve a customer by providing
better services, products and terms than his
competitors.

10.  Business ethics covers all conduct, behaviour
and judgment in business.This includes the
slightest deviation from what is right to illegal
and dishonest acts that are punishable by
law.
 Generally, actions that are not forbidden by
law are ethical. In some cases, however, what
is legal(not forbidden by law) may be
unethical.

11.  Business ethics is based on the personal
values and standards of each person engaged
in some business.
 There is still no uniform standard of right and
wrong from which all businessmen may base
their actions.

12.  Sociology- the study of group behavior tells us that
the earliest grouping of men was a kinship group.
 The earliest group was the family and the expanded in
patriarchal and matriarchal society was the clan or
tribe.
 In a family or clan, forbidden acts include to neglect
and be cruel to one’s children and to steal.
 Required acts include respect for elders, caring of
parents in their old age, and respect for another
person’s property which included one’s wife.

13.  Generally, the more civilized a society is, the
better are its ethics.
 Moral growth is generally in proportion to
society’s progress.

14.  The success of an individual is determined by
his material possessions and his standing in
the economic world.
 The richer the man is, the more successful he
is thought to be.
 As the success of individual depends on
economic gain, the force that spurs is the
search for profit.

16.  Greek and Graeco Roman Ethics
 Christian Ethics or the Doctrine of love
 Medieval Ethics
 Modern Ethics
 Pragmatism or Instrumentalism
 Other Schools of Ethical Philosophy

17.  Socrates- famous socratic maxim “Virtue is
knowledge”. He says that man must first
know what things are good. If a man knows
what is good, he will inevitably follow it.
 Plato- a pupil of Socrates- he agreed that the
first need is to know what is good for if a man
succeeds in knowing what is good, he will
know courage and justice-the embodiment of
good.

18.  Aristotle- the most famous of Greek
philosophers and gave his share in the search
for truth through his doctrine of the mean or
ethics of moderation. He explains this by
stating that every situation stimulates in man
a certain kind of emotion such as fear, anger,
and punishment.These reactions are just
natural but showing too much or too little of
these reactions, it becomes a vice (his term
for “wrong”. “do things moderately”.

19.  Epicurus- founded the doctrine of pleasure or
the school of epicureanism and believes that
pleasure is the sole good and pain is the sole
evil. Pleasure should not be rejected unless it
would lead to painful consequences. Pain
should not be chosen unless it ultimately
leads to greater pleasure.

20.  This school holds that ethics springs from
man’s relationship with God.
 To love God, and
 To love one’s neighbor as one’s self.
 Firmly rooted in the teachings of the old and
NewTestament. (Ten Commandments of
God)

21.  Abelard- he dominated ethical thought
during the middle ages. He maintained that
man’s actions are good or bad depending on
their cause and intention.An action is good
not because it is intrinsically good but
because it has good intention. ( eg. Selling
below cost)

22.  Hobbes- He agreed that there is a need for
moral laws but he also said that it would be
foolish to observe them if others do not.
 Businessmen recognize the need for rules to
guide business decisions, they still cheat, lie
and misrepresent things rationalizing that
others do it anyway.

23.  Utilitarianism- Found by Jeremy Bentham
and John Stuart Mill.Their philosophy is
summarized in the phrase “ the greatest
good is the greatest pleasure of the greatest
number”.
 Moore- believed that the two distinct
problems in ethics are: the problem of
determining what state of affairs are true and
what actions are right.

24.  Moore- the right action is the one that will
bring the greatest amount of intrinsic good to
the individual. (e. g when a student faces an
exam and he has a lot of alternatives.
 Immanuel Kant- echoedAbelard’s thinking
that a man’s action is good or bad depending
on its cause or intention (motive).If the act
came from a sense of duty, then the motive
is good and act is right.

25.  Hegel- An act must be judged right or wrong
not only by its motive and commonality but
also by its content.The content of an act
comes from the laws, institutions and
customs of the community.The rightness and
wrongness of an act depends on its harmony
with the laws and traditions of society. (e.g. It
is not right for a Christian to have two wives
because it is against his beliefs.)

26.  Led by two philosophers James and Dewey. It
espouses that moral problems come from
conflicts between impulses or desires. Any
action that will bring harmony to this conflict
is the right one. However there is no absolute
good since every solution gives rise to further
conflicts which must be dealt with in the
same way.

27.  Naturalism or the Ethics of Domination-
this school believes that what is natural or
normal is right. Any action that is abnormal or
unnatural is wrong.
 Rationalism or the Doctrine of Reason-
believes that reason is right and emotion is
wrong. It is not Rationalization, which is
finding excuses for doing what one wants
because of self-interest, impulse or emotion.

28.  Humanism or the Principle of Humanity-
believes that man is inherently good and thus
he should not be subjected to indignities or
evil acts of his fellowmen. He should be
respected and revered not cheated, lied and
taken advantage of.
 Hedonism or Doctrine of Pleasure- similar
to epicureanism in that it believes that
pleasure is the main goal of life.

29.  Confucius, a Chinese philosopher said that
righteousness begins with the individual. His
prescriptions to righteousness has a
multiplier effect. If each individual governs
himself well, his family will also be governed
well. If each family is well governed, then the
whole country will also be well governed.

30. DEBATE:
 Which of the different schools of ethical
philosophy would you most believe in/go for?
would you oppose much? Come up with
reasons/justifications/examples/proofs to
support your answers.
 Find your group depending on the answers
you had given.
 Assign a leader to present your responses.