Abstract
The public image of business does not always inspire public confidence, since it is often assumed that talk of ethics in business is only talk, not something that makes a difference in practice. Business executives are pragmatic individuals, accustomed to dealing with their environment as they find it and not inclined to question how things ought to be. That frame of mind reinforces the public image of business as impervious to moral imperatives.
It is the business of ethics to tell us what are our duties, or by what test we may know them.
John Stuart Mill
Utilitarianism
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Notes and References
Albert Carr advocates conventionalism in Business as a Game (New York, 1968); “Is Business Bluffing Ethical?” Harvard Business Review (January-February, 1968) pp. 143–153; and reiterates it in “Can an Executive Afford a Conscience?”, Harvard Business Review (July-August, 1970), pp. 58–64. In defending himself against the criticism that he is condoning unethical behavior, Carr insists that an executive who acts according to prevailing business practices “is guilty of nothing more than conformity; he is merely playing the game according to the rules.” “Showdown on Business Bluffing,” Harvard Business Review, (May-June, 1968). p. 169.
Joseph Heller, Catch 22, (New York, Dell, 1961), ch. ix.
Marcus G. Singer uses this term in Generalization in Ethics (New York: Knopf, 1961), pp. 153 and 156–157.
Examples from Carr’s “Is Business Bluffing Ethical?”, pp. 144, 146, and 148.
Ibid., pp. 152–153.
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© 1983 The Humana Press Inc.
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Gillespie, N.C. (1983). The Business of Ethics. In: Robison, W.L., Pritchard, M.S., Ellin, J. (eds) Profits and Professions. Contemporary Issues in Biomedicine, Ethics, and Society. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-5625-0_10
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-5625-0_10
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