...Modern Ethical Theories Psychological Egoism vs. Ethical Egoism When we discuss modern ethics there are two theories that emerge above all others and although both are supported they are often controversial in nature. Ethical Egoism states that we should put ourselves and our interests before those of others leading to the conclusion that if we do things that are only in our own self interest then we have achieved morality. Psychological Egoism presumes that we always put ourselves and our interests before others and that every act is motivated only by our own self interest. Even when an act appears on the surface to be totally unselfish it is in all reality a selfish act. Simply feeling good about doing an “unselfish act” makes it selfish. Ethical and Psychological Egoism may seem similar at first glance but they are actually quite different. We will discuss these two theories and their differences, compare the doctrines of motivation for both and discuss selfishness and self interest. Let’s first take a look at the fallacy of Psychological Egoism. The fallacy of Psychological Egoism is the belief that people are only motivated by self interest but as we all know there are many things that can motivate people to do things. Take for instance the seven deadly sins; sloth, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed, and pride. Any one of these can be a motivating factor. So it is easy to see that the fallacy of Psychological Egoism is the erroneous belief that the only motivating factor...
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...(2011) 104:311–323 DOI 10.1007/s10551-011-0910-1 A Model for Ethical Decision Making in Business: Reasoning, Intuition, and Rational Moral Principles Jaana Woiceshyn Received: 11 February 2011 / Accepted: 16 May 2011 / Published online: 28 May 2011 Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011 Abstract How do business leaders make ethical decisions? Given the significant and wide-spread impact of business people’s decisions on multiple constituents (e.g., customers, employees, shareholders, competitors, and suppliers), how they make decisions matters. Unethical decisions harm the decision makers themselves as well as others, whereas ethical decisions have the opposite effect. Based on data from a study on strategic decision making by 16 effective chief executive officers (and three not-soeffective ones as contrast), I propose a model for ethical decision making in business in which reasoning (conscious processing) and intuition (subconscious processing) interact through forming, recalling, and applying moral principles necessary for long-term success in business. Following the CEOs in the study, I employ a relatively new theory, rational egoism, as the substantive content of the model and argue it to be consistent with the requirements of longterm business success. Besides explaining the processes of forming and applying principles (integration by essentials and spiraling), I briefly describe rational egoism and illustrate the model with a contemporary moral dilemma of downsizing...
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...Paper about Thucydides versus Plato on the nature of the Good Life 1: Thucydides versus Plato on the nature of the Good Life. Some have claimed that Thucydides is making empirical claims, whereas Plato is making normative claims. Is that true? Support your answer in your paper. Plato and Thucydides together had strikingly dissimilar views on their tactic on the good life. Many have demanded that Plato is making normative rights, whereas Thucydides has made empirical claims. Let's first take a look at Plato. Plato's philosophy on the decent life was based on the confidence that all has an objective or use that is classically suited for asset, beauty, fairness, and excellence of the exact thing, and all will depend on the conclusion of that role. He reflects the decent life as being reached and finished by the flawless love and lack of wish. Plato states that the good life is the disorder a person exhibits regarding entire virtue. Virtue inclines to come after the nonappearance of desires, or prospects, so true contentment means being satisfied to the opinion one doesn’t have needs. He’s persuaded that everyone has the control to be virtuous. He too believed the gentleman and citizens are the formation of the City; they are it’s slaves and it’s broods, and the separate has no right to assert separate rights against the Urban. In his circumstance, justice is putative as a compromise, and appreciated, not as good in itself, nonetheless for lack of control to do wrong; no...
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...Henry Thompson Contemporary Ethics Prof. Prettiman Thucydides versus Plato on the nature of the Good Life. Some have claimed that Thucydides is making empirical claims, whereas Plato is making normative claims. Is that true? Support your answer in your paper. Plato and Thucydides together had strikingly dissimilar views on their tactic on the good life. Scholars have demanded that Plato is making normative rights, whereas Thucydides is making empirical claims. Let's start by taking a look at Plato. Plato's philosophy on the decent life was based on the confidence that all has an objective or use that is classically suited for asset, beauty, fairness, and excellence of the exact thing, and all will depend on the conclusion of that role. He reflects the decent life as being reached finished the flawless love and lack of wish. Plato opinions the good lifetime as the disorder a person exhibits entire virtue. Virtue inclines to come after the nonappearance of desires, or prospects, so true contentment means being satisfied to the opinion one doesn’t have needs. He’s persuaded that everyone has the control to be virtuous. He too believed the gentleman and citizen are the formation of the City; they are its stuff (like slaves) and its broods, and the separate has no right to assert separate rights against the Urban. In this circumstance, justice is offered as a compromise, and appreciated, not as good in itself, nonetheless for lack of control to do wrong; no gentleman worthy...
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...this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/0143-7739.htm LODJ 33,1 Are ethical theories relevant for ethical leadership? Michel Dion ´ Universite de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Canada Abstract Purpose – The aim of this study is to know if ethical theories could be connected to some leadership approaches. Design/methodology/approach – In the paper eight leadership approaches are selected: directive leadership, self-leadership, authentic leadership, transactional leadership, shared leadership, charismatic leadership, servant leadership, transformational leadership. Five western ethical theories (philosophical egoism, utilitarianism, Kantianism, ethics of virtue, ethics of responsibility) are analyzed to see to what extent their basic concepts could be connected to one or the other leadership approach. Findings – A given ethical theory (such as philosophical egoism) could be suitable to the components of various leadership approaches. Ethical leadership does not imply that a given leadership approach is reflecting only one ethical theory. Rather, ethical leadership implies that for different reasons, various leadership approaches could agree with the same ethical theory. This is what we could call the “moral flexibility of leadership approaches”. Research limitations/implications – This study focuses on western ethical theories. A similar study should be undertaken for Eastern ethical theories coming from Buddhism, Hinduism, Confucianism, or Daoism. Practical implications...
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...moral standards as they apply to business policies, institutions, and behaviour * Corporate Social Responsibility refers specifically to a description and moral evaluation of the impact than an organization has on society * Ethics can be a business constraint “ethics costs” but also an advantage “ethics pays” 1970 – 1985: Rise of business ethics (academia) 1985 – 1995: Ethics into firms 1995 – 2000: Internationalization 2000 – 2012: Corporate Scandals and government regulation * Ethics Scandal Costs: Fines, lawsuits, prison, investor losses, bankruptcies, unemployment, and increased regulation * Market Morality: Will everyone invest their money as agreed or will greed effect them? * Parable of the Sandhu Ethics vs. the law Unclear over moral responsibility Easier to say what is morally right than to do it * Employees value health and safety ethics Consumers value product safety Shareholders want return on investment Need to look at environment * Macroenvironment: social, economic, political, technological factors * Our society is pluralistic in nature * Pluralism: there is diffusion of power among society’s many groups and organizations Decentralization and diversity of power * Strengths of Pluralism: prevents power concentration; maximizes freedom; diversified loyalties; provides safeguards; disperses individual allegiances. Has a set of built in checks and balances * Weaknesses of Pluralism: pursuit of self-interest;...
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...Moral Issues in Business Chapter Two Normative Theories of Ethics Consequentialist Theories • Egoism - Adam Smith • Egoism is a consequentialist theory. What matters for egoists is the consequences of their actions for themselves. • • Utilitarianism - Bentham and Mill o Utilitarianism is a consequentialist theory. Right and wrong depends on the consequences of one’s actions for everyone who might be affected by them. Jeremy Bentham • Bentham was a hedonist. He believed that happiness was a matter of more pleasure and less pain. • Bentham thought you could assign pleasure points to an action according to the following categories: o Intensity: How intense is the pleasure? o Duration: How long will it last? o Certainty: How sure are you that the pleasure will occur? o Proximity: How soon will the happiness occur? o Fecundity: How much more pleasure will this lead to? o Purity: How much pain will be mixed with this pleasure? o Extent: How many people will experience the pleasure? Quality vs. Quantity o Bentham: Pushpin is as good as poetry. o Mill: It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied. o Bentham believed that all pleasures should count equally, but Mill believed that humanity would be better off if the intellectual, moral and aesthetic pleasures were more valued. Principle of Utility o The right action is the one that produces the greatest balance of pleasure over pain, or happiness over unhappiness, for everyone affected by that action. o Animals...
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...Effective Communication Table of Contents Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………..4 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………5 Chapter One: History of Ethical Theory Development Introduction……………………………………………………………………………….…6 Definition of Ethics Business Ethics and Individual Ethics: Is There a Difference?…………………….…..7 Virtue Ethics…………………………………………………………………………............9 Practical Wisdom……………………………………………………………….14 Eudaimonia……………………………………………………………………...15 Kantian Ethics……………………………………………………………………16 Ethical Egoism…………………………………………………………………………….....18 Consequentialist Ethics.……………………………………………………………………..21 Chapter Two: Corporate Social Responsibility Introduction 27 Corporate Social Responsibility 27 Summary 34 Chapter Three: The National Football League’s Blackout Policy is Unethical Introduction……………………………………………………………………………….…35 The History of the NFL Blackout Policy: The Legal Test…………………………………..37 The Economic Test: Do Blackouts Have a Positive Economic Benefit?...............................39 The Philanthropic Test……………………………………………………………………….43 The Ethics Test………………………………………………………………………………47 Summary……………………………………………………………………………………..51 Chapter Four: Effective Communication Introduction……………………………………………………………………………….....50 Effective Communication Defined………………………………………………………..…50 This Student’s Display of Effective Communication…………………………………….....51 Written Communication………………………………………………………………...
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...Amsterdam, The Netherlands a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t Whereas it has been acknowledged that personality plays an important role in leader emergence and effectiveness, most studies have shown weak relations between personality and leadership styles. In this study, it is argued that one of the reasons for this lack of association may lie in the low level of self–other agreement among leaders and subordinates. In this study both leaderand subordinate ratings of leader personality and leadership styles are employed to inspect the relations between HEXACO Honesty–Humility, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness on the one hand and Ethical, Charismatic, Supportive, and Task-oriented leadership on the other. Using an instrumental variable procedure, strong direct effects of Honesty–Humility on Ethical leadership, Extraversion on Charismatic leadership, Agreeableness on Supportive leadership, and Conscientiousness on Task-oriented leadership were observed. The results imply that the relatively weak relations between personality and leadership styles in previous studies are mainly due to relatively low levels of self–other agreement. © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Article history: Recieved 7 October 2011 Revised 5 March 2012 Accepted 13 March 2012 Available online 6 April 2012 Keywords: Personality HEXACO Self–other agreement Leadership styles Introduction Recently, there has been an resurgence in the interest in leader traits (Day &...
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...Journal of Accounting, Ethics & Public Policy Volume 3, Number 1 (Winter 2003), pp. 1‐26 Ayn Rand and Contemporary Business Ethics Stephen R. C. Hicks Introduction: business and the free society Advocates of the free society think of business as an integral part of the dynamic, progressive society they advocate. In the West, the rise of a culture hospitable to business has unleashed incalculable productive energies. Business professionals have taken the products of science and revolutionized the fields of agriculture, transportation, and medicine. Business professionals have taken the products of art and dramatically increased our access to them. We have more food, we are more mobile, we have more health care, we have more access to works of fiction, theater, and music than anyone could reasonably have predicted a few centuries ago. The result of business in the West, and more recently in parts of the East, has been an enormous rise in the standard of human living. We have gone, in the space of a few centuries, from a time in which perhaps 10% of the population lived comfortably while 90% lived near subsistence to a time in which 90% live better than comfortably and 10% live near subsistence. And we haven’t given up on the remaining 10%. Intellectuals who study the free society have, in the fields of economics and politics, a good understanding of what makes this possible: individualism. In economics there exists a well worked out understanding of ...
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...Phil. 334-01 / Spring 2011 Dr. Rodney G. Peffer Founders 169c/ 260-4092 Messages: F-162/ 260-4705 Office Hrs.: T/Th. 700-715 pm Web CT – to be announced Wed. 300-730 pm Phil. 334 ETHICS TOPICS COURSE: GLOB AL JUSTICE Required Texts: Rodney G. Peffer, Global Justice, Human Rights, and the Natural Environment (i.e. various published articles and unpublished essays that are components of this work that will either be put on ERES or emailed to you; there’s nothing to buy) David Schweickart, After Capitalism John Rawls, The Law of Peoples Thomas Pogge & Keith Horton (ed.), Global Ethics: Seminal Essays Thomas Pogge & Darrel Moellendorf (ed.), Global Justice: Seminal Essays Will Kymlicka, Politics in the Vernacular (Optional) E-Reserve Essays are in: Phil. 340 E-Reserves: Password = “war” Phil. 338 E-Reserves: Password = “endangered” Phil. 462 E-Reserves: Password = “worldpeace” A. Essays by Rodney G. Peffer (Peffer) B. Marxism, Morality, and Social Justice (MMSJ) I –XXI (Essays) = Essays by other authors divided into Sections All ERES Readings are in my Phil. 462 ERES unless noted otherwise. * = An important component of my next book. Jan. 26 General Introduction to Course Jan. 31 Basics of Political Philosophy/ Peffer’s Theory of Social Justice The following 6 short essays...
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...BUSINESS ETHICS BY SHAW TEST BANK A+ Graded Tutorial Available At: http://hwsoloutions.com/?product=business-ethics-by-shaw-test-bank Visit Our website: http://hwsoloutions.com/ Product Description PRODUCT DESCRIPTION Business Ethics by Shaw Test Bank, Business Ethics by Shaw – Test Bank A+ Graded Chapter 1—The Nature of Morality MULTIPLE CHOICE 1. Which of the following characteristics distinguishes moral standards from other sorts of standards? a. moral standards are purely optional b. moral standards take priority over other standards, including self-interest c. moral standards cannot be justified by reasons d. moral standards must be set or validated by some authoritative body 2. Choose the statement that gives the most accurate description of etiquette: a. the rules of etiquette are a fundamental branch of morality b. conformity with the rules of etiquette is sufficient for moral conduct c. etiquette refers to a special code of social behavior or courtesy d. the rules of etiquette are backed by statutory law 3. Our relationship with the law is best described by which of the following? a. To a significant extent, law codifies a society’s customs, norms, and moral values. b. The law is a completely adequate guide to the moral standards that we should follow. c. The law makes all immoral conduct illegal. d. Violating the law is always immoral. 4. Which of the following is not one of the four basic kinds of law? a. statutes b. constitutional...
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...Grand Canyon University American Psychological Association [APA] Style Guide for Writing Introduction Students of Grand Canyon University (GCU) are required to use the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.) for preparing written assignments, except where otherwise noted. All students should have a personal copy of the APA Publication Manual, which is available through the GCU Bookstore or local bookstores. In the interest of providing resource material for student use, this guide to APA style and format has been developed and made available. It is based on the current 6th edition of the APA Manual. However, the guide only highlights aspects of APA style and format, and so it is recommended that students use the APA Manual as a resource when writing APA-style papers. An APA template has been provided in the Student Success Center’s Writing Center for student download and use. PLEASE NOTE: The curriculum materials (Syllabus, Lectures/Readings, Resources, etc.) created and provided by GCU in the online or Web-enhanced modalities are prepared using an editorial format that relies on APA as a framework but that modifies some formatting criteria to better suit the nature and purpose of instructional materials. Students and faculty are advised that GCU course materials do not adhere strictly to APA format and should not be used as examples of correct APA format, or in place of the APA Manual, when preparing written work for class. APA...
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...GE 1301- PROFESSIONAL ETHICS AND HUMAN VALUES UNIT I & II – HUMAN VALUES The Story of a Carpenter An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer-contractor of his plans to leave the house- building business and live a more leisurely life with his wife enjoying his extended family. He would miss his paycheck, but he needed to retire. They could get by. The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter said yes, but in time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end his career. When the carpenter finished his work and the builder came to inspect the house, the contractor handed over the house key to the carpenter. “This is your house,” he said, “it is my parting gift to you.” What a shock! What a Shame! If only he had known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently. Now he had to live in the home he built none too well. (Modified from LIVING WITH HONOUR by SHIV KHERA) Do we find ourselves in similar situations as the carpenter? Moving through our work hours fast paced, driven to “get the job done”, without much thought to moral values. How do we regain our focus as individuals and organizations? This is the challenge for the employee and the employer. Ethics are fundamental standards of conduct by which we work as a professional. VALUES Values...
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... B. If Paul “drs should sometimes assist their patient’s death, Helen: No (then real disagreement) C. There is a point here about disagreement A characteristic of ethics and ethical argumentation consistency: A. It is always wrong to kill a human being B. Abortion is not always wrong C. I am committed to holding that abortion isn’t always the killing of a human being a. This sets a limit on the subjectivity of ethics b. Another such limit: factual accuracy c. One can enjoy a taste without knowing what it is d. In ethics we have to understand the facts of the matter: patient’s prognosis, wishes etc in regards to resuscitation (2) Ethical relativism A. Similarity to subjectivism: B. Ethics depends upon a group, a culture etc. a. Darius: eat or burn one’s dead b. Herodotus each culture things its custom best c. Nomos vs. Phusis d. Anthropology: no superior morality which...
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