-
What is psychological egoism?
- -view that everyone is always motivated to act in his or her perceived
- self-interest.
- -People always do what pleases them or what is in their
- interest.
- -“People are at heart selfish, even if they appear to be
- unselfish.”
-
What is ethical egoism?
- -The supreme principle of conduct is to promote ones well being above everyone else’s.
- -Normative theory of what people oughtt to do.
- -People always ought to act on the basis of self interest
-
What is Utilitarianism?
- -Moral worth of actions or practices is determined by their consequences.
- -An action or practice is right if it leads to the best possible balance of good consequences over bad
- consequences for all the parties affected
-
What makes the action or practice right? (utilitarian)
If it minimizes harm and maximizes benefits.
-
What is the Principle of utility?
- “Greatest happiness principle” actions are right if they promote happiness and the
- absence of pain and wrong if they create unhappiness and pain.
-
What is act utilitarianism?
- -In all situations one ought to perform the act that leads to the greatest
- good for the greatest number.
- -Rules are useful guidelines, but are expendable
-
What is rule utilitarianism?
highest regard for rules
-
What is deontological theory?
- Persons should be treated as an end not as a means. Failure to respect persons
- treats them as a means.
-
What is good will for Kant?
- Person has good will only if the motive for the action is moral obligation determined by a universal rule
- of obligation
-
What is the categorical imperative?
- 1. “I ought never to act except in such a way that I can also will that my
- maxim (private principle of action) should become a universal law.”
- 2.“Treat other people as an end, never as a means only.”
-
What is the moral implication of the categorical imperative?
- “I ought never to act except in such a way that I can also will that my
- maxim should be a universal law”
-
What is virtue?
- neither a feeling nor an innate capacity, but a disposition bred from an innate capacity properly
- trained and exercise. People require virtue much as they do skills.
-
What is the main argument of virtue ethics with regard to business?
- If you are great at customer service and do your job correctly, but instead
- of working and believing in what your selling you rather be sleeping you
- are not engaged in a morally appropriate manner. However, if you start a
- yogurt company because you care about your product and what you’re
- selling you are morally responsible.
-
What is ethics of care and its conrtibution to business ethics?
- -Sympathy, compassion, fidelity, love, friendship
- -Value relationships
-
What are postive rights?
- certain people or institutions provide benefits or services (thus
- securing benefit rights or welfare rights)- valid claim on goods and
- services
-
What are negative rights?
- those that require that we do not interfere with the liberty of others (thus
- securing liberty rights)- valid claim to liberty, a right not to be
- interfered with.
-
What is Milton Friedmans concept of social responsibility
Obligation to manage the firm in the interest of the stockholders
-
Explain the difference between the stockholder theory and the stakeholder theory?
- -Stockholder: states that stockholders advance capital to corporate managers who act as
- agents in advancing their interests.
- -Stakeholder: firm is to be managed in the interests of the various stakeholders
-
Who are the stakeholders?
managers, employees, customers, local society, and suppliers
-
Why is stockholder theory problematic?
- -Justifies that people will do anything in order to maximize profits including
- acting immorally
- -Managers should use customers, employees and suppliers as mere tools
-
To whom do managers have a fiduciary duty in running the corporation?
the stockholders
-
Explain the corporate character
- Resulting illegal acts is a product of the corp. character, rather than the act of
- a rogue employee. The higher an official the more likely they are to
- represent the company
-
What constitutes the corporate character?
policies, structures, systems, procedures
-
What are the two views on the issue of corporate moral responsibility? how do they differ from eachother
- -Collectivist view: corporate organization as a moral agent. Both individuals and corp. org.
- can be responsible
- -Individualist view: Corporation is made up of individuals who are responsible for the
- organizations acts. Human beings are responsible.
-
What is due process?
- -Rationality and fairness
- -Means by which a person can appeal a decision in order to get an explanation of
- that action and an opportunity to argue against it
- -Hearing, trial, grievance procedure, etc.
-
What are the ethical issues regarding EAW?
- -No legal protection against the job loss
- -No rights to due process or to appeal employment decisions
- -No right to belong to any union
- -No union agreement available
-
What would be the utilitarian argument with regard to the EAW
- A utilitarian would believe that the employer is not morally right to
- terminate the employee at any time because the unhappiness of the
- employee would outweigh the happiness.
-
Explain the two theories of whistleblowing
- -Standard theory (utilitarian): when serious harm might occur
- to others and whistle blowing is the only way to stop it (only after
- other internal affairs have been exhausted)The
-Complicity theory: Kantian, focuses on moral wrong not harm
-
What are three paradoxes of the standard theory?
- -The paradox of burden
- -The paradox of missing harm
- -The paradox of failure
-
What are the conditions for whistleblowing?
- -Always involves revealing information
- -Involves an actual (declared) intention to prevent something bad that otherwise
- would occur
-
What is sexual harrasment?
Verbal or threating behavior that is unwelcome and sexual in nature
-
What is gender specific harrasment?
Example: demeaning remakers about how women under perform in the work place
-
What factors determines whether and environment is hostile?
- The frequency of discriminatory conduct; its severity; whether it is
- physically threatening or humiliating; or a more offensive utterance; and
- whether it unreasonably interferes with an employees work performance.
-
What are the arguments that diversity is morally important?
Businesses cant discriminate against certain races/demography
-
Why should corporations welcome goals and quotas?
- -Improved work force
- -Maintenance of a bias free corporate environment
- -Congeniality to managerial planning
-
What is intellectual property? How does it differ from other types of property?
- -Products of the mind or intellect
- -Infinitely sharable
- -Cannot make complete claim to it
- -Fundamentally social-shared
- -Responsibility to pass on
-
The ethical justification for copyright?
- -Utilitarian: best way to promote production of such works is by making it possible for
- those who produce them to benefit financially
- -Fairness: spend energy,time, money and therefore deserve recompense
-
Why should the privacy be recognized as a social good rather than an individual good?
- -Organizations: can acquire use and information about us without our knowledge or consent
- -Individuals: give up privacy
-
What is puffery?
Exaggeration made by a seller to make product fanciful or suggestive
-
What are the five levels of information disclosure in sales? (Brief explanation)
- -Minimal information rule: the buyer is responsible for acquiring info. About the
- product. There is no obligation to give any info the buyer does not
- specifically ask her
- -Modified minimal information rule: the only addition info the seller is obligated
- to give is info a buyer might need to avoid risk of injury
- Fairness rule: a seller is responsible for giving
- -Mutual benefit rule: seller is responsible for giving the buyer any info. needed to make a reasonable judgment about
- whether to purchase the product which the buyer does not possess
- -Maximal information: a seller is responsible for giving the buyer any information relevant to deciding
- whether to purchase the product
-
Two perspectives to deal with the environmental issues of business
- -Businesses should not lobby against proposed environmental legislation
- -Businesses have an obligation to utilize their considerable expertise regarding the
- causes of environmental harm to educate consumers about best practices
- regarding environmental protection
-
Some practical measures for ecological protection and preservation of environment-
internal cost, external costs
- -Internal: fuel, labor, and equipment for which the manufacture pays
- -External: clean up and medical care that the neighbors pay as a result of the pollution
- -Internalizing external costs: the costs of pollution control are borne by stockholders
- and by customers, both of them benefits from the polluting activities of
- the firm. The benefits of pollution control flow to those neighbors who
- once had to put with the firms pollution
-
Rawls thoery of justice as fairness
equality
-
Veil of ignorance
- -Allows that no one is advantaged or disadvantaged in the choice of principles.
- -The contingency of social circumstances and the outcome of natural chance are
- screened.
- -Enables the initial situation fair among individuals as moral persons
-
difference principal
- -Society must give more attention to those with fewer native assets and to those
- born into the less favorable social positions
- -The difference principle is not the principle of redress though. But the
- difference principle would allocate resources in education so as to
- improve the long-term expectation of the least favored.
- -Natural distribution (birth, talents) is neither just nor unjust. But the way
- that institutions deal with these facts matters.
- -The two principles are a fair way of meeting the arbitrariness of fortune.
-
Nozicks entitlment principle
- -We are not in the position of children who have been given portions of pie
- by someone.
- -There is no central distribution; no person or group entitled to control all
- the resources.
- -What each person gets, he/she gets from others who give to him/her in exchange
- for something, or as a gift.
- -In free society, divers persons control different resources and new holdings
- arise out of the voluntary exchanges and actions of persons.
-
Peter Singers position
- -We have an obligation to assist
- -We are not isolated individuals
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