Download Chapter 2 Discussion: Ethical Principles in Business

Chapter 2 Discussion:
Ethical Principles in Business
Paul L. Schumann, Ph.D.
© 2004 by Paul L. Schumann. All rights reserved.
2-1
Utilitarian Moral Principle
 What is the utilitarian moral principle?
 In terms of “means” (methods) versus “ends”
(results) in what way does the utilitarian moral
principle focus on the “ends” (results)?
 If an action does me (personally) the most good
and the least harm of all actions I can take, that
doesn’t mean the action is ethical according to
the utilitarian moral principle. Why?
 Does this principle only consider the direct and
immediate consequences of our actions?
Explain.
2-2
Utilitarian Moral Principle
 In what ways is utilitarianism an attractive
principle?
 In a particular situation, if more good and
less harm follows from telling a lie than any
other possible action, then is lying in that
situation morally correct according to the
utilitarian principle? Explain.
2-3
Utilitarian Moral Principle
 What are the alleged measurement problems
with utilitarianism?
 How do defenders of utilitarianism answer the
alleged measurement problems?
 What concerns involving rights have been
expressed about the utilitarian principle?
 What is the example of the sick uncle?
 How do utilitarians answer the rights concerns?
• Is it moral to kill one person in order to save the
lives of many people? Explain.
2-4
Utilitarian Moral Principle
 What concerns involving justice have been
expressed about the utilitarian principle?
 How do utilitarians answer the justice
concerns?
 What are the 2 main limits to utilitarian
methods of moral reasoning?
2-5
Rights Moral Principle
 What is meant by a “right”?
 What is meant by “moral rights” (or
“human rights”)?
 How are moral rights different from legal
rights?
2-6
Rights Moral Principle
s
Rig
tie
Du
hts
 How are moral
Interests
rights tightly
correlated with
duties?
 How are moral
rights related to
interests?
2-7
Rights Moral Principle
 If the rights principle usually overrides the
utilitarian principle, then under what
circumstances should the utilitarian
principle override the rights principle?
2-8
Rights Moral Principle
 How do the ideas of Immanuel Kant fit into
a discussion of moral rights?
 What is the first formulation of Kant’s
categorical imperative?
• Under the first formulation of the categorical
imperative, what are the 2 criteria for determining
moral right and wrong?
• How does this relate to the golden rule?
 What is the second formulation of Kant’s
categorical imperative?
2-9
Distributive Justice Moral Principle
 What is the fundamental principle of
distributive justice?
 What’s fair according to egalitarianism?
 Criticisms?
 What’s fair according to capitalism?
 Criticisms?
 What’s fair according to socialism?
 Criticisms?
2-10
Distributive Justice Moral Principle
 What’s fair according to libertarianism?
 Criticisms?
 How does Rawls develop principles of
fairness by using the “original position” and
the “veil of ignorance”?
 What is the principle of equal liberty?
 What is the principle of fair equality of
opportunity?
 What is the difference principle?
2-11
Ethics of Care Moral Principle
 What are the moral demands of the ethics of
care moral principle?
 What does the ethics of care take into
consideration that is missing from the other
moral principles?
 Under what circumstance are we not
required to exercise care for people with
whom we have relationships?
2-12
Virtue Ethics
 What is a moral virtue?
 What are examples of moral virtues?
 The other moral principles focus on the
morality of actions. In what way is virtue
ethics different from the other moral
principles?
 How can we use virtue ethics to decide
what actions we should take?
2-13
Integrating the Moral Principles
 Why should we apply and integrate the 4
moral principles of utilitarianism, rights,
distributive justice, and ethics of care?
 How does virtue ethics fit in with the 4
moral principles?
 Does it replace the other 4 moral principles?
 Is it another (the 5th) moral principle?
 Or something else?
2-14
Retributive Justice
 What is meant by retributive justice?
 What are the conditions of retributive
justice?
2-15
Compensatory Justice
 What is meant by compensatory justice?
 What are the conditions of compensatory
justice?
2-16
Morality in International Contexts
 What are the 4 sets of questions that we
should try to answer in order to apply the
moral principles in an international context?
2-17
Case: Philip Morris’ Troubles
 What moral issues are there in the case?
 Let’s simplify, and focus on analyzing the
following moral issue:
 Is it ethical for a company like Philip Morris to
sell a product that it knows has significant
health concerns while denying to the public that
there are any health concerns?
2-18