Flashcards
3. The Ethical Compass: Virtue Ethics
Cards in this deck (19)
- 1Explain: Why we act ethicallyWhy we act ethically: Imagine someone needs help. A consequentialist will help because it produces the best possible outcomes; a deontologist will help because they have a duty to do so; but the virtue ethicists will because it is benevolent, charitable or compassionate and because she has an inclination to do so.
We do the right thing – not because we are rational beings – but because we have developed an inclination to do the right thing. Right action becomes habitual based on experience and education. - 2Explain: Virtue ethics according to Aristotle Arete: Virtue (excellent trait of character, e.g. courage; justice; temperance)
Phronesis: Practical wisdom based on experience and education
Eudaimonai: Happiness, well-being, fulfilment
• We have to focus on being good people and the right action will then follow.
• According to Aristotle, trait of character is developed through education, whereas the trait of personality is more fixed through biology.
• Virtue ethics is thus teleological. Humans are predisposed to attempt to realise their intrinsic potential and strive for happiness. Thus, everything has a function and our function is Eudaimonia. - 3Describe: Virtue as the golden mean (image)
- 4Define: SituationismSituationism refers to the importance of taking stock of the situation by reflecting on it in light of your experience, training, knowledge, etc. Based on this thinking, you should do what is right in the situation.
- 5Explain: Critique of professional ethicsAlasdair MacIntyre critiques professional ethics for treating morality as something separate from other activities, i.e. as a discipline in its own right.
For example, consequentialism disregards motives and intentions and deontology disregards the importance of the impact of our actions.
“[I can only answer the questions] ‘What am I to do?’ if I can answer the prior question ‘Of what story or stories do I find myself a part?’” (After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory) - 6Explain: Virtue Ethics - Right and wrong action Right action: An action which someone with phronesis / practical wisdom would characteristically do and feel good about
Wrong action: An action which someone with phronesis / practical wisdom would characteristically not do and feel guilty about - 7Explain: Virtue ethics and businessVirtue ethics and business: Within business, there should be a strong focus on mentoring to cultivate the right virtues.
Thus, reinforcing and rewarding ethical behaviour could infer for it to become a behavioural disposition, instinctive and habitual, with ethics as second nature of sorts.
• This can be achieved through ethics training, and by managers leading by example. - 8Explain: Natural rightsNatural rights: The human rights movement has its roots in Locke’s theory of natural rights (John Locke, 1632-1704). According to Locke, there are three main natural rights:
1) Right to life
2) Right to freedom
3) Right to property - 9Explain: What is freedom? (image)
- 10State: Examples of human rights declarations Declaration of the Rights of Man (French Revolution, 1789)
American Constitution (1787)
UN Declaration of Human Rights (1948)
EU Charter of Fundamental Human Rights (2000)
UN Guiding Principles on Buisness and Human Rights (2011 - 11Explain: How deontology and right-based ethics are connected According to Kant, all humans are ends in themselves and we have an absolute duty to treat them as such.
To have human rights imply that others have a duty to respect these rights.
But what is the source of human rights, i.e. how can we determine which human rights we have? - 12Explain: UN on business and human rightsUN on business and human rights: Three pillars, i.e. foundational principles
1) States are obliged to respect, protect and fulfil human rights;
2) Businesses are required to comply with all applicable laws and to respect human rights;
3) Appropriate and effective remedies ought to be implemented when rights are breached
“The responsibility of business enterprises to respect human rights refers to internationally recognised human rights – understood, at a minimum, as those expressed in the International Bill of Human Rights and the principles concerning fundamental rights set out in the International Labour Organisation’s Declaration of Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.” - 13State: Examples from the International Bill of Human Rights• Article 1: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
• Article 3: Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.
• Article 4: No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.
• Article 23: Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work. - 14Describe: Human rights and business performance (image)
- 15Example: How Glasgow university is affected by human rights Recruitment, selection and promotion
Diversity in leadership
Recruitment, selection and promotion
Work life balance?
Bullying, harassment
UCU industrial action
Purchasing of equipment and service
Divestment from fossil fuels (2014) - 16Example: Human rights and the case of child labourThe theory provides a clear answer – the right of children to education and childhood free from labour is not respected.
- 17Discuss: Advantages and potential drawbacks of adopting a rights based approach to business ethics Pros:
• Widely adopted by businesses and resonates with many constitutions and legal frameworks
• Businesses are increasingly judged against human rights
Cons:
• Human rights are not necessarily universally accepted
• Some argue that human rights have a Western bias - 18Explain: Combining human rights and utilitarianismCombining rights and utilitarianism (A Theory of Justice – John Rawls)
1) Each person has an equal right to the most extensive total system of basic liberties compatible with a similar system of liberty for all.
2) Social and economic inequalities are arranged to that they are:
• To the greatest benefit of the least advantaged
Attached to positions open to all (equality of opportunity) - 19Explain: Rawls and the veil of ignoranceRawls and the veil of ignorance
You are about to enter a society / social order
You do not now your race, gender, abilities, talents, motivations, beliefs, etc.
You should make all choices about the formation of society from this point of ignorance
What principles of justice would you recommend?
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- Ethics and Business Flashcards on 3. The Ethical Compass: Virtue Ethics, created by Nina Olsson on 24/04/2019.
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