moral theory

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Chapter One
Ethical Theory and
Business Practice
Ethical Theory and Business, 6th Edition
Tom L. Beauchamp & Norman E. Bowie

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Objectives
٠After studying this chapter the student should
be able to:
– Distinguish between morality and ethical theory.
– Distinguish between morality and prudence.
– Distinguish between morality and law.
– Explain the three approaches to the study of
morality.
– Describe the moral theory of relativism.

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Objectives
– Discuss the egoism moral theory.
– Explore some of the problems of the egoism theory.
– Interpret the different types of utilitarian theory.
– Discuss some of the problems of the utilitarian
theory.
– Apply Kantian ethics using different scenarios.

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Objectives
– Explain the principles behind the common morality
theories.
– Explore the concept of rights theories.
– Distinguish between virtue ethics, and feminist
theories and the ethics of care.

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Overview
٠Morality
٠Approaches to the Study of Morality
٠Relativism
٠Egoism
٠Utilitarian Theories
٠Kantian Ethics
٠Common Morality Theories

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Overview
٠Rights Theories
٠Virtue Ethics
٠Feminist Theories and the Ethics of Care
٠Analysis of Cases

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Morality
Principles or rules of moral conduct
that people use to decide what is right
or wrong.

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Morality v. Ethical Theory
٠Morality is concerned with the social practices
defining right and wrong.
٠Ethical theory and moral philosophies provide
guidelines for justification of right or wrong
actions when settling human conflict.
٠No one moral philosophy is accepted by
everyone!

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Morality v. Prudence
٠Rules of prudence promote self-interest, doing
what is prudent for oneself.
٠Rules of morality promote the interest of other
people.
٠Morality and prudence should generally work
hand-in-hand if a business is to succeed.

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Law
Public's agency for translating morality
into explicit social guidelines and
practices and for stipulating
punishments for offenses.

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Morality v. Law
٠Statutory law v. case law
– Statutory laws are federal / state statutes and their
accompanying administrative regulations.
– Case laws are judge-made laws that establish
influential precedents that provide material for
reflection on both legal and moral questions.
٠Morality and ethics begin where the law is
unclear or not defined!

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Rule of Conscience
٠Consciences:
– Vary from person to person and time to time.
– Are altered by circumstance, religious belief, life
experiences, and training.
– Are not consistent from day to day.
٠Moral justification must then be based on a
source external to conscience itself.

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Approaches to the Study of
Morality
٠Descriptive approach - provides a factual
description and explanation of moral behavior
and beliefs, as performed by anthropologists,
sociologists, and historians.
– Referred to as the scientific study of ethics.
٠Conceptual approach - analyzes meanings of
central terms in ethics such as right, obligation,
justice, good, virtue, and responsibility.

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Approaches to the Study of
Morality
٠Prescriptive approach - attempts to formulate
and defend basic moral norms or standards by
determining what ought to be done versus
what is being done.
– Referred to as normative ethics.

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Relativism
An ethical theory that claims right and
wrong is subjectively determined by
each culture.

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Relativism
٠What is good is socially accepted and what is
bad is socially unacceptable in a given culture.
٠There is no such thing as universal truth in
ethics, there are only the various cultural
codes and nothing more.
٠An argument against relativism:
– There are some basic moral principles that all
societies will have in common, because those rules
are necessary for society to exist.

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Methods to Easing Moral
Disagreements
٠Obtaining objective information
٠Definitional clarity
٠Example-counterexample
٠Analysis of arguments and positions

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Egoism
A moral theory that contends all
choices either involve or should
involve self-promotion as their sole
objective.

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Psychological Egoism
٠Everyone is always motivated to act in his or
her own perceived self-interest.
٠A main argument against psychological
egoism is that there may be no purely altruistic
moral motivation to help other people unless
there is personal gain.

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Ethical Egoism
٠The only valid standard of conduct is the
obligation to promote one's own well being
above everyone else's.
٠Ethical egoists believe that people should not
be their brother’s keeper, because people do
not completely understand the true needs of
others.
٠It’s every man for himself in this world!

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Utilitarian Theories
Moral theories that assert an action’s
rightness is determined by the actual
or probable consequences that the
action will have for the greatest
number of people affected by that
action.

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Utilitarian Theories
٠Utilitarian theories hold that the moral worth of
actions or practices are determined solely by
their consequences.
٠An action or practice is right if it leads to the
best possible balance of good consequences
over bad consequences for all the parties
affected.

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Utilitarian Theories
٠Act utilitarianism
– Argues that in all situations the utility of an action is
based on an act that leads to the greatest good for
the greatest number.
– Treats rules as useful guidelines to help determine
ethical behavior.
– Will break a moral rule if breaking the rule leads to
the greatest good for the greatest number.

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Utilitarian Theories
٠Rule utilitarianism
– The morality of an action should be evaluated on
the basis of principles or rules designed to promote
the greatest utility for the greatest number.
– Rule utilitarians hold that rules have a central
position in morality that cannot be compromised by
the demands of particular situations.

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Utilitarian Theories
٠Utilitarian decision-making relies on tools such
as cost-benefit analysis and risk assessment
to determine the greatest utility.
٠Main argument against utilitarianism is
questioning whether units of happiness or
some other utilitarian value can be measured
and compared in order to determine the best
action among alternatives.

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Kantian Ethics
A moral theory that holds you should
follow only those rules which you
would will to be universal laws for
everyone, including yourself.

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Kantian Ethics
٠Categorical imperative principle states "I ought
never to act except in such a way that I can
also will that my maxim should become
universal law."
– The principle is categorical because it admits of no
exceptions and is absolutely binding, and is
imperative because it gives instruction on how one
must act.
٠Respect-for-persons principle states persons
should never be used as a means to an end.

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Kantian Ethics
٠Kant believed that morality should follow
absolute rules that admit no exceptions, which
has been a major argument against this
theory.
٠Another argument against Kantian theories is
that they are narrow and inadequate to handle
various problems in the moral life.

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Common Morality Theories
A moral theory based on the concept
there is a common morality that all
people share by virtue of communal
life.

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Common Morality Theories
٠The greatest obligation in any given
circumstance must be found based on the
greatest balance of right over wrong in that
particular context.
٠Obligations and rights are not inflexible
standards, but rather strong prima facie moral
demands that may be overridden in
circumstances of competition with equal or
stronger moral claims.

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Rights Theories
A moral theory based on the concept
that all people have human rights that
form the justifying basis of obligations
because they best express the purpose
of morality, which is the securing of
liberties or other benefits for a right-
holder.

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Rights Theories
٠Human rights are held independent of
membership in a state or other social
organization.
٠Human rights evolved from the notion of
natural rights.
– Natural rights are rights that belong to all persons
purely by virtue of their being human.
٠Negative rights pertain to the obligations on
the part of other people to refrain from
interfering with our freedom of action.

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Rights Theories
٠Positive rights impose obligations on people to
provide other people with goods or services.
٠A primary problem with this theory is that there
is no hierarchy for right’s claims:
– “How does someone determine which right takes
precedence or has more value over other rights?”

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Virtue Ethics
This moral theory suggests that
morality is comprised of virtue, which
has to do with a person's character and
the types of actions that emanate from
that character.

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Virtue Ethics
٠Some typical virtuous traits in the business
arena would be integrity, honesty, truthfulness,
courage, loyalty, courteousness, and
conscientiousness.
٠Virtuous traits are acquired and developed
throughout our life experiences.
٠A primary problem with this theory is that
people have varying definitions of what traits
are considered virtuous.

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Feminist Theories and the Ethics
of Care
This moral theory focuses on a set of
character traits that are deeply valued
in close personal relationships.

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Feminist Theories and the Ethics
of Care
٠Typical traits would include sympathy,
compassion, fidelity, love, friendship, and the
like.
٠This theory grew out of two feminist
presuppositions:
– The subordination of women is as wrong as it is
common.
– The experiences of women are worthy of respect
and should be taken seriously.

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Feminist Theories and the Ethics
of Care
٠An argument against this theory is that the
focus is on how power is used to oppress
women only, whereas traditional ethics is
based on the assumption that its values and
rules apply to all rational persons equally.

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Analysis of Cases
٠The case method in law is used to show
examples of established precedents of
evidence and justification.
٠The case method in business is used to
present managerial situations so managers will
know how to think when confronted with a
dilemma.

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Analysis of Cases
٠The casuistical method for case analysis in
ethics is used to show conclusions on ethical
matters, then to compare and contrast the
central features of the morally clear and settled
cases with the features of unsettled cases.