Business Ethics: Kant, Virtue, and the Nexus of Duty

Business Ethics: Kant, Virtue, and the Nexus of Duty
Author: Richard M. Robinson
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2021-12-09
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 3030859975

This book offers students a philosophical introduction to the ethical foundations of business management. It combines lessons from Kant with virtue ethics and also touches upon additional approaches such as utilitarianism. At the core of the book lies the concept of the nexus of imperfect managerial duty: building and reinforcing the virtuous managerial team, engaging in reasoned discourse among all stakeholders, and diligently pursuing business responsibilities, including the creative efforts necessary for modern organizations. Case illustrations of these applications are presented throughout the book, including chapter appendices. Ancillary videos, test and answer banks and sample syllabi are available online via the author’s website.

Business Ethics: A Kantian Perspective

Business Ethics: A Kantian Perspective
Author: Norman E. Bowie
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 235
Release: 2017-02-06
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1108132707

It is more important than ever that a business must be both ethical and profitable. In this thoroughly revised and updated second edition, Norman E. Bowie shows that by applying Kant's three formulations of the categorical imperative, and by doing the right thing for the right reason, a business can achieve success in both of these fields. Bowie uses examples such as building trust, transparency through open book management, and respecting employees by providing a living wage and meaningful work. This new edition, for graduates and academic researchers in the field of business ethics, has been heavily revised to include the newest scholarship on Kantian ethics, with a new emphasis on Kant's later moral and political theory, a workable account of Kantian capitalism, and additional accounts on corporate social responsibility, Kantianism and human rights, corporate moral agency, and the Kantian theory of meaningful work.

Kantian Business Ethics

Kantian Business Ethics
Author: Denis Gordon Arnold
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Total Pages: 209
Release: 2012-01-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 178100496X

In this original collection of essays, a group of distinguished scholars critically examine the ethical dimensions of business using the Kantian themed business ethics of Norman E. Bowie as a jumping off point. the authors engage Bowie's influential body of scholarship as well as contemporary themes in business, including topics such as: the normative foundations of capitalism; the applicability of Kantian ethics, virtue ethics, and pragmatism in normative business ethics; meaningful work; managerial ethics; the ethics of high leverage finance capitalism; business ethics and corporate social responsibility; and responsibility for the natural environment. the contributors to this volume include both scholars sympathetic to Bowie's Kantian business ethics and scholars critical of that perspective. As one of the foundational figures in the establishment and legitimization of the study of business ethics as a field of scholarship, Bowie casts a long shadow over the field. Over the last thirty years he has applied a distinctive, Kantian approach to the analysis of problems in business ethics and his work has had a substantial impact on a wide range of theory and scholarship in the field. Bowie argues in his work that economic value is not the only value that should inform managers, executives, and policy makers when making both business policy decisions and everyday management decisions. He utilizes a Kantian framework to support the position that additional values – such as human dignity and rational consistency – should inform business practice and influence managerial decision-making. He also shows that business practices that include these additional values are consistent with sound management theory and that such businesses can be financially successful. This volume of scholarly essays will be of considerable interest to students and scholars working in business ethics, corporate social responsibility, and organization studies.

Kant's Ethics of Virtue

Kant's Ethics of Virtue
Author: Monika Betzler
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
Total Pages: 309
Release: 2008-12-10
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 3110209659

In his Metaphysics of Morals (particularly in the Doctrine of Virtue), but also in other late works, Kant extends and refines the content of his earlier works on ethics (Groundwork and Critique of Practical Reason) to a considerable extent. These revisions and extensions not only show the limitations of an exclusive interpretation of Kant’s ethics as a deontological ethics of principles. His thoughts are also relevant for a large number of questions of theoretical morality currently under discussion. Thus, the distinction drawn in the Doctrine of Virtue between perfect and imperfect obligations informs the problem of the solvability of moral conflicts and the role of supererogatory actions. Kant goes further into the question of what it means to be a good person, what moral significance is contained in close human ties such as friendship, and what role is played by happiness and the so-called obligations towards oneself. The papers each discuss Kant’s central ideas in the context of his earlier writings, but also within the context of our contemporary ethical debates. Thus attention is drawn to the significance and possible extent of an ethics of virtue understood in the Kantian sense.

Imperfect Duties of Management

Imperfect Duties of Management
Author: Richard M. Robinson
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 252
Release: 2018-10-08
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 3319997920

This book uses Kant's idea of imperfect duty to extend the theory of the firm. Unlike perfect duty which is contractual or otherwise legally binding, imperfect duty consists of those commitments of choice that pursue some moral value, but that have practical limits to their pursuit. The author presents a broad view of the imperfect duties of management, defined as a nexus of all commitments to do good involving relations internal and external to the firm. This nexus consists of three overlapping categories of (i) building a virtuous managerial community, (ii) pursuing reasoned managerial discourse, and (iii) diligent and reasoned pursuit of the body of routine managerial duties such as capital budgeting and internal controls. Specific applications of the nexus theory for stakeholder relations via fair negotiation, and for analysis of the effects on the managerial team of perquisite consumption are presented. This book has major implications for research in business ethics and allows critical insights into managerial decision making.

Beyond Duty

Beyond Duty
Author: Thomas E. Hill, Jr.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 332
Release: 2021
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0192845489

Beyond Duty presents a new collection of essays on Kantian moral theory and practical ethics from a distinguished philosopher known for making Kantian ethics accessible and relevant to contemporary problems. With a new emphasis on ideals beyond the strictest requirements of moral duty, Thomas E. Hill, Jr. expands the core aspects of Kantian ethics and offers a broader perspective on familiar moral problems. Some essays explain Kantian concepts, while others review work of leading contemporary philosophers or raise challenging ethical questions for more general audiences. Crucially, Hill develops an ethical ideal of appreciation of people and their lives. Distinguished from both respect and beneficence, this has important implications about how we should think about close personal relationships, such as friendships, families, and relationships with people with disabilities. Part I focuses on Kantian moral theory. Topics include the structure of Kant's argument in the Groundwork; his idea of imperfect duties to oneself; autonomy; and human dignity. Rawls' constructivism is defended against O'Neill's objections, and Kantian ethics defended against the charge of utopian thinking. Part II focuses on practical ethics, including the ethics of suicide; philanthropy; conscientious objection; and tragic choices when it seems that every alternative offends against human dignity. An essay on moral education contrasts Kantian and Rawlsian perspectives; another traces the role of self-respect in Rawls' theory of justice and contrasts a Kantian conception. The volume concludes with two essays that develop and illustrate the ideal of appreciation.

A Primer on Business Ethics

A Primer on Business Ethics
Author: Tibor R. Machan
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Total Pages: 276
Release: 2002-10-23
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1461665256

A Primer on Business Ethics is an accessibly written, engaging introduction to the fundamental questions of business ethics, for use in the undergraduate classroom. Machan and Chesher approach the business enterprise in a friendly, pro-business spirit, and identify the virtue of prudence as its moral foundation. Various branches of business including advertising, financial services, management, employment, corporate ethics, responsibilities of corporate management, public policy matters, and political economy are considered at length. The book is supplemented with an overview of various moral and political theories relevant to the subject matter, as well as a collection of useful case studies to inspire further discussion. An electronic instructor's manual enhances the material in the book with chapter abstracts, a bank of true/false questions for each chapter, essay questions, and mini-essays. This manual can be requested directly from the publisher for instructors using the book in the classroom. To request a copy, send an email to [email protected]. Instructor Manual

Kant's Doctrine of Virtue

Kant's Doctrine of Virtue
Author: Mark Timmons
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 329
Release: 2021
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0190939222

"This book is a reader's guide to Kant's final work in moral philosophy, The Doctrine of Virtue - Part II of the 1797 Metaphysics of Morals. The guide has 5 parts plus a conclusion. Part I "Background" includes two chapters: 1. "Life and Work" and 2. "Philosophical Background." Part II, "General Introduction to the Metaphysics of Morals" covers the introduction to the entire work whose content is crucial for understanding the text. This part contains three chapters: 3. "On the Idea of and Necessity for a Metaphysics of Morals", 4. Mental Faculties, the Moral Law, and Human Motivation," and 5. "Preliminary Concepts and Division of the Metaphysics of Morals." Part III, "Introduction to the Doctrine of Virtue," includes four chapters that cover Kant's dedicated introduction to the Doctrine of Virtue: 6. "The Doctrine of Virtue as a Doctrine of Ends," 7. "General Ends that are also Duties," 8. Radical Evil and the Nature of Virtue," and 9. "The Science of Ethics." Part IV is devoted to Kant's system of duties of virtue that represents his normative ethical theory. It contains five chapters: 10. "Perfect Duties to Oneself as an Animal Being," 11. "Perfect Duties to Oneself as a Moral Being," 12. Imperfect Duties to Oneself," 13. "Duties of Love to Other Human Beings," 14. "The Vices of Hatred and Disrespect," and 15. "Friendship." Part V "The Doctrine of Methods of Ethics and Conclusion" includes chapter 16 "Moral Education and Practice." The book's conclusion reflects on the significance of the Doctrine of Virtue for understanding Kant's ethics"--

The Ethics of Business

The Ethics of Business
Author: Al Gini
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Total Pages: 179
Release: 2011-10-16
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1442214341

In a field dominated by books that focus exclusively on the perspective of business in large corporations or that assume that business has a moral deficiency in need of reform, Al Gini and Alexei Marcoux offers students and business people alike a concise guide to what everyone ought to do when doing business. Where other books are organized topically, Gini and Marcoux look at the moral features of business that recur across topical areas, stressing the considerations that bear on business people whether they be corporate functionaries, principals in family businesses, or solo entrepreneurs who do it all, end to end. They present to students the essential concepts, ideas, and issues involved in ethics in business and emphasize the individual acting person and what it means to have character and integrity when doing business.