...The Conflict of Morality and Egoism, in Daily Life and Business The most basic distinction to make between morality and egoism is that morality demands that, at sometimes, you are obligated to do what is not in your self-interest to do. If morality never made these demands, then it would not be anything additional to the doctrine of ethical egoism (always do what is in your self-interest to do). In daily life, people are generally expected to act within moral constraints. Most people would claim that it would be wrong for me to kill an innocent stranger, even if it was in my self-interest to do so. One variable in these types of cases is the law, which is basically an instrument to make moral constrains more self-interested. So, when considering whether or not to kill someone for their money, the threat of lifetime imprisonment or death may make not killing in my self-interest. However, the key in these cases: is there any constraint on me not to kill the person if I could get away with it? Morality would say yes, there is a genuine constraint on my actions that obligates me not to kill the person even if I could get away with it. There are also other ways that morality can stretch beyond legality. There are plenty of things that people would consider immoral, but are not illegal. Cheating on your significant other, for example, is considered immoral even though is not illegal (though it is actually illegal to cheat on your spouse in some states). Where I’m going with this:...
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...Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility in the e-Economy: A Commentary Abstract The paper addresses the concepts of business ethics and corporate social responsibility in the old vis-à-vis the new economy. The effects of globalization and its impact on the transition from the industrial to the digital era are explored. Although the behaviour of business organizations has always had a profound worldwide impact, with the decline of the nation state economic power has, for the first time, eroded political power. Simultaneously, the undergoing revolution in contemporary information and communication technologies has significantly empowered the customer. Responding to enhanced customer awareness and sensitivity to business and social responsibility issues -coupled with consumers' increasing ability to react- companies in the digital age may be expected to develop even stronger cultures of corporate social responsibility, proactively seeking to increasingly honour their moral obligations to society in the 21st century. Keywords: Business Ethics, Corporate Social Responsibility, Global Standards, Social Accountability 8000, e-Economy. 1. Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility: Conceptual Definitions The concepts of business ethics and social responsibility are often used interchangeably, although each has a distinct meaning. The term business ethics represents a combination of two very familiar words, namely "business" and "ethics". The word business is...
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...Chapter 1 ETHICS & BUSINESS ETHICS AN INTRODUCTION TO ETHICS Ethics is not a recent discovery. Over the centuries philosophers in their struggle with human behavior have developed different approaches to ethics, each leading to different conclusion. The word “Ethics” which is coined from the Latin word ‘Ethics’ and Greek word ‘ethikos’ pertains to character. Ethics is thus said to be the science of conduct. As a matter of fact it deals with certain standard of human conduct and morals. The field of ethics involves systematizing, defending and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior. Ethics is a mass of moral principles or set of values about what is right or wrong, true or false, fair or unfair, proper or improper, what is right is ethical and what is wrong is unethical. MEANING AND DEFINITION OF ETHICS Peter F. Drucker writes- “There is only one ethics, one set of rules of morality, one code that of individual behavior in which the same rules apply to everyone alike.” Philip Wheel Wright says- “Ethics is the branch of philosophy which is the systematic study of selective choice, of the standards of right and wrong and by which it may ultimately be directed.” Swami Vivekananda has set the tone for ethics. He says- “Supreme oneness is the rationale of all ethics and morality. Ethics cannot be derived from the mere sanction to any personage. Some eternal principle of truth has the sanction of ethics. Where is the eternal sanction to be found except...
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...personality defined their potential to be great leaders no matter the context. As a result, the situational approach to leadership emerged and the focus turned to behaviors around the 1960s. As opposed to the traits theory, it gave leadership a dynamic dimension: the environmental factors play a role in dividing people into leaders and followers. Rather than personality traits, the situational approach studied human behavior. Building on these approaches, the contingency theory defined three styles of leadership: the authoritarian, democratic and laissez-faire leadership styles, that each were suited to certain situations. Later on, Fred Fiedler distinguished between two types of leaders: relationship-oriented and task-oriented leaders. By the 21st century, leadership could be viewed from a personality perspective, focus of group processes, as an act, or as a behavior. With the growing complexity of agreeing upon a single generally accepted definition of leadership, scholars came to realize the limits of the existing models. They had been...
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...about changes that are permanent, self perpetuating, and momentum building” (Covey, 1990, p. 287). The goal of the transformational leader is to change the ineffective to the effective. The leader would make changes to ensure the effectiveness, growth and outcome benefits the corporation. Transformational leadership is the “style of leadership in which the leader identifies the needed change, creates a vision to guide the change through inspiration, and executes the change with the commitment of the members of the group” (Transformational Leadership, n.d.). Northouse (2007) goes further to explain transformational leadership as the process whereby a person engages others and creates a connection that raises the level of motivation and morality in both the leader and the follower (p. 176). Two of the most inspirational transformational leaders of this generation have been Martin Luther King and John F. Kennedy. King, with his “I have a Dream” speech inspired the Civil Rights movement. President Kennedy’s vision of “landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth” inspired the space race of the 1960s and 1970s (Greenberg, 2005, p. 364). These men filled the categories of transformational leaders and with their popularity, charisma and confidence; they inspired a nation to change from their old ways into a new millennium of national, social and political improvement. What is a Transformational Leader? The transformational leader has a desire and ability to raise...
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...Vision to 21st century leadership The ultimate measure of man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. --Martin Luther King Jr. Abstract: Great quotes, great literature, great historical leaders, but still world is exploring the real essence of leadership. When we talk about leadership skills what exactly do we mean? Leadership skills are tools, behaviors and capabilities that a person need in order to be successful at motivating and directing others. Yet true leadership skills involve something more; the ability to help people grow in their own abilities. It can be said that the most successful leaders are those that drive others to achieve their own success. There are many leadership styles and has lot many leadership qualities attributed to the styles. Which one is perfect and what qualities make a good leader is slowly becoming the context and situation oriented. The dynamics and characteristics of this 21st century world are greatly varied than previous centuries. As the society becomes faster paced and dynamic the problems and challenges are also evolving in rapid fashion, making them even more difficult to resolve. People perception and demands on their leadership is also changing fast. They demand new styles of leadership which provide solutions, not necessary an autocratic way but a blend of different styles and qualities to suite these dynamic, challenging, complex 21st and future...
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...publishing information in the form of texts, video, audio and images with ought boundaries through highly technological innovation techniques”. Social media is a generalized term for a group of online software tools that allow for increased interaction, authorship, and development of online content by any web user” (Kuhns, 2012, p. 4). New media is means of mass communication using digital technologies such as the internet. The term in 21st Century used to define all that is related to the internet and the interplay between technology, images and sound. Facebook has 1.59 billion active users per month worldwide. Social media platforms like Facebook that have been used by journalists. For example the uses of social media in Nigeria...
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...Ellie Loeffler Dr. Gary Gress Global Environmental Issues Emma Marris Lecture The Ethics of the Rambunctious Garden MIND-BENDING LECTURE Sponsored by the Presidential Dream Course Mind-Bending Morality, Law and Science September 11, 2013 “A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability and beauty of the biotic community, it is wrong when it tends otherwise.”- Aldo Leopold For my outside connection, I attended the lecture “The Ethics of Rambunctious Garden” given by Emma Marris, author of The Rambunctious Garden: Saving Nature in a Post-Wild World. I found Emma’s lecture to be extremely fascinating. Her ideas on conservation are controversial and optimistic. She spoke in a charming and authoritative way, leaving me with a feeling of trust and awareness of her passion for nature. I enjoyed having a complete understanding of all the issues she referred to, from being in our Global Environmental Issues class! In the first few minutes, Marris described the two narratives environmental activists often refer to when considering a morally correct state of nature. One of the narratives was The Garden of Eden, before the fall of Adam and Eve. The second was sort of a Jack Kerouac-like notion of pristine wilderness; the beating heart of what it means to be nature. These narratives are useless to us Marris argued. Humans now occupy over seventy-five percent of ice free surface, there is no pristine wilderness...
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...1. After exploring the sociological literature on death and dying, explore and argue for or against one of the following statements: b. Death and dying are subjected to and defined by the clinical gaze. Euphemism and grandiloquence are core mechanisms employed in the theoretical and authoritative discourses surrounding the issues and definitions of death, as seen with the propositions put forward by the British Medical Association (BMA 2003). The BMA’s ideas allude to a suggestion that death could be redefined and that ‘Elective Ventilation’ (a prohibited medical procedure on the outer frontiers of legality and morality) might become a ‘new’ status of the dead and dying. Other articles take this presumption further, by questioning whether as individuals, society should legally be bound to ‘opt out’ rather than ‘opt in’ of this innovative condition; meaning if our bodies befall fatal injuries there is a presumption that they instantly become the assets of the medical institution (Wilkinson 2012). An alternative belief is being presented, that our ethical and moral concerns should lay with the future recipient of our assumedly ‘redundant’ organs. Already some European states such as Wales are considering backing such a proposal (Wales News 2012). Actively delaying death or maintaining a body to increase organ donation is illegal as the interests of the patient are not paramount. Is the idea of Elective ventilation the ultimate scenario in defining death through a clinical...
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...The Ethics of Koreans Don Baker In Korean Spirituality, I outlined the tremendous variety of spiritual beliefs and religious practices found among the Korean people today, and showed that over the centuries spirituality on the Korean peninsula has grown ever more complex and diverse. By the beginning of the 21st century, Koreans could choose among a wide variety of options for expressing their spiritual yearnings and pursuing their spiritual goals. They had available to them a broad range of both institutional and informal approaches to addressing their core spiritual concern of transcending the limitations of existence as an independent, autonomous individual, as well as for tackling various unpleasant side effects of such an existence: mortality, sickness, poverty, and loneliness, to mention just some of the obstacles human beings inevitably face as they navigate the turbulent passage from birth to death. Koreans can turn to their folk traditions, to various forms of Buddhism or Christianity, to Confucianism, to new religions, or to other organizations promising them help in their spiritual quest to overcome the frustration, uncertainty, confusion, and even boredom that can result from not having a clear picture of what their role is in this world they live in, why they are here and what will happen to them after they die, or of how they can cope with the multitude of unforeseen intrusions into their personal mental and physical space that are unavoidable as long as they are...
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... Journal of Inform ation System Security w w w.jissec.o rg Ethics and Morality - a business opportunity for the Amoral? Ian O. Angell Professor of Information Systems Information Systems Department London School of Economics and Political Science London, United Kingdom Preamble It is common for speakers at computer security conferences to tell audiences that 'they should do' this, and 'should do' that. The word 'should' is regularly thrown about as some jumbled-up mixture of efficiency and ethics, without any justification of the imperative. This paper will concentrate on the ethical issues, and so it will quickly dispose of 'efficiency,' leaving detailed argument for another time. Then, taking the devil's advocate position, it will focus on demolishing the certainty behind the ethical obligation, by questioning the role of ethics in society in general, but specifically in computer security. Indeed this paper will claim that an unsuspected morality and ritual lies behind many real-world security choices and much so-called 'objective' academic analysis. Furthermore, it will propose that such moralistic positions are highly problematic, and that all recommendations phrased in terms of virtue rather than pragmatism be treated as highly suspect. This polemical paper formed the basis of a keynote address given at the 5th Computer Security Conference, held in Las Vegas on the 20th-21st April 2006. 4 Angell, JISSec adfh The quest for efficiency...
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...e c 3 (1 ) 2 0 0 7 Journal of Inform ation System Security w w w.jissec.o rg Ethics and Morality - a business opportunity for the Amoral? Ian O. Angell Professor of Information Systems Information Systems Department London School of Economics and Political Science London, United Kingdom Preamble It is common for speakers at computer security conferences to tell audiences that 'they should do' this, and 'should do' that. The word 'should' is regularly thrown about as some jumbled-up mixture of efficiency and ethics, without any justification of the imperative. This paper will concentrate on the ethical issues, and so it will quickly dispose of 'efficiency,' leaving detailed argument for another time. Then, taking the devil's advocate position, it will focus on demolishing the certainty behind the ethical obligation, by questioning the role of ethics in society in general, but specifically in computer security. Indeed this paper will claim that an unsuspected morality and ritual lies behind many real-world security choices and much so-called 'objective' academic analysis. Furthermore, it will propose that such moralistic positions are highly problematic, and that all recommendations phrased in terms of virtue rather than pragmatism be treated as highly suspect. This polemical paper formed the basis of a keynote address given at the 5th Computer Security Conference, held in Las Vegas on the 20th-21st April 2006. 4 Angell, JISSec adfh The quest for efficiency, where any form...
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...the way religion was looked upon along the way for others to see that there was more of a choice out there for them. Religion was and is the way one has their own beliefs, what to them is truth, to which way they should be lead in. Each religion believes in something different from another and most of them all believe in one God, only a few does not. The world had outgrown just one religion therefore, when Martin Luther and King Henry decided to separate themselves from the church many more had emerged. Secularism identifies it’s self as something called 'religion' and separate it from the domains of the state, the economy and science. Secularism is the realization that God’s will be done plus the natural evolution of universal morality. Christianity was the spiritual identity of one’s soul, beliefs, spirituality, social, and political foundation. Then those from other countries believed that Christianity provided spiritual connections, organizing principles, and inspirations for their identity. Believers were united by their faith as well as commerce and communication to help spread and strengthen each other (Getz & Brooke, 2012). The thinking of secularism and its relationship to feminism has arisen in the context of the confluence of a number of developments including: the increasing dominance of the 'clash of civilizations' thesis; the expansion of postmodern critiques of Enlightenment rationality to encompass questions of...
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...military sees stability operations through contemporary ethical lenses. Since each case depends upon current ethical understanding about what the military should or should not do, past examples of stability operations do not necessarily provide fitting frameworks for modern efforts. This article focuses on ethical abstractions as well as the ways national and social views of how "right" and "wrong" translate into political and military application, and it examines examples of stability operations and the ethical challenges and implications such efforts raise.1 Morality in Post-war Operations Even though moral rhetoric often permeates stability operations, international stability and perceived strategic interests have overridden moral obligations as determinants for American military commitments. A study of the ethical implications of conducting stability operations today bridges a historiographic gap in the understanding of morality in warfare. Scholars have often alluded to the prevalence of the just war tradition in (Western) military thought.2 However, the Just War model is insufficient when discussing stability operations because it only describes jus ad bellum (rationale for going to war in the first place) and jus in bello (appropriate conduct during war).3 The moral reasons for going to war are not always the same as the reasons the victor uses to justify occupation of the defeated nation. Jus in bello does continue to have relevance during stability operations, particularly...
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...Asha Chang The University of the West Indies Niccolo Machiavelli From the centuries of the Dark Ages to the time of St. Tomas Aquinas’ birth, marked a time of steady increase in thought and knowledge. A man would come after however, adding new knowledge by taking a different approach from his fore runners, about the state and governance. Some would refer to his work as promoting the evil nature of man, which happen to be persons who have never read his work; while others believe that he only gives evidence to his heightened intellect and reveals the true nature of human-kind. This man was known as Niccolo Machiavelli. Machiavelli was born in Florence, Italy to a relatively well of family in 1469 and died in 1527 A.D. He was born at the time when Europe was blossoming with the Renaissance (rebirth of knowledge/learning). He is known as the Man of Age and Reason. He was born in an era that discovered and explored the World of Classical Greece and Rome; on the one hand and embraced the scientific and technological innovations of the emerging capitalist class and of Arab scientists and technologists. After the 14th century the writings and thoughts began to move in the direction to rationalism/secular beliefs and by the 15th century the Renaissance was born like a little baby growing with Classical Humanism by which knowledge broke with faith and claimed superiority over it. “The Renaissance goes beyond the moral selfhood of Stoicism, the spiritual uniqueness of Christianity, the...
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