BUS200: Business Ethics

The role of Athenian ethical theories in philosophy has been profound, and Athenian principles continue to be influential in contemporary philosophy. As a form of applied philosophy, ethics was a major focus among the leaders of ancient Athens, particularly teachers like Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. They taught that ethics was not merely what someone did but who someone was. Ethics was a function of being, and as the guiding principle for dealings with others, it also naturally applied to the sensitive areas of money and commerce.

As an iconic figure, Confucius affected China's politics, literature, civil administration, diplomacy, and religion. Even so, he considered himself a failure by most accounts, never having achieved the position and security he sought during his lifetime. However, his story is a testament to the reward of a life lived with integrity and simplicity.

Aristotle and Confucius each constructed an ethical system based on virtue, with Aristotle's ultimate aim being happiness, and Confucius' harmony. Each addressed a particular problem. For Aristotle, happiness consisted of the search for truth, which, in turn, required a centered, stable individual who could surmount misfortune or weak character. Confucius looked to settle the soul of the Chinese people by creating a system that reflected the heavenly order on Earth. Both systems rely on reasoned means to achieve reasoned ends.

Although the ultimate aim of Aristotelian virtue ethics was eudaimonia, later philosophers began to question this notion of happiness. If happiness consists of leading the good life, what is good? More importantly, who decides what is good? Jeremy Bentham (1748–1842), a progressive British philosopher and jurist of the Enlightenment period, advocated for women's rights, freedom of expression, the abolition of slavery and the death penalty, and the decriminalization of homosexuality. He believed that the concept of good could be reduced to one simple instinct: the search for pleasure and the avoidance of pain. All human behavior could be explained by reference to this basic instinct, which Bentham saw as the key to unlocking the workings of the human mind. He created an ethical system based on it, called utilitarianism.

Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) was not concerned with the consequences of one's actions or the harm caused to one's interests. Instead, he focused on motives and the willingness of individuals to act for the good of others, even though that action might result in personal loss. Doing something for the right reason was much more important to Kant than any particular outcome.

John Rawls (1921–2002) wanted to change the debate in the West in the 1960s and 1970s about maximizing wealth for everyone. He sought not to maximize wealth, a utilitarian goal, but to establish justice as the criterion by which goods and services were distributed among the populace. Justice, for Rawls, had to do with fairness – in fact, he frequently used the expression justice as fairness – and his concept of fairness was a political one that relied on the state to take care of the most disadvantaged. In his justice theory, offered as an alternative to the dominant utilitarianism of the times, the idea of fairness applied beyond the individual to include the community and analysis of social injustice with remedies to correct it.