Ethical Theories &Risk

8/17/2019 Ethical Theories &Risk

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Whenever a manager asks the question

"What is the right thing to do?” he too issearching for the morally appropriateaction. If he seeks an applicable rule, norm,value or example to follow, then he seeks to

apply normative ethics.

If he questions the grounds upon whichsuch values or rules are valid, for example

by asking whether ethical rules are merelyrelative or purely subjective, then heengages in meta-ethics.


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Normative ethics is the branch of

philosophy

concerned with moral obligationand intrinsic value in the actions andcharacter of human beings.

The term normative refers to theoreticalideals - norms - against which we are ableto evaluate practices. The two mainbranches of normative ethics are virtue

ethics and rule-based ethics.


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Virtue ethics:

“All the gold on the earth and under the earth

is less precious than virtue.” Plato, 4thCentury BC.

A human virtue is a relatively stable character

aspect that disposes a person to act in abenevolent way. To describe something as arelatively stable character aspect is the sameas saying that it has become a habit.


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Virtue ethics focuses on the formation of one’scharacter to equip one for good citizenship inan organized community, in the belief that a

community made up of people of goodcharacter would be a good community.

Virtues are therefore what we would think of asgood habits, e.g. courage, generosity, orloyalty; vices may be seen as bad habits, e.g.dishonesty, cowardice, or selfishness. In ancient

Greece, the study of ethics was recorded byPlato and Aristotle in the fourth century B.C.


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Regarding moral virtues as the building blocksof good character, Aristotle proposed a processof habituation, which is an ongoing growth in

understanding, culminating in the ability tointuitively choose one way above another. Sincegoodness of character is said to be broughtabout by repeatedly practicing virtuous acts,Aristotle thought that people should adopt thedoctrine of the mean, whereby a v irtuous act is

seen to be the m ean that

falls between two vices- one of excess and one of deficiency. But herecognized that some situations fall outside of

the mean and accepted that in such cases a rightresponse would be that which is appropriate tothe situation – thus habituation is complementedby adaptation.


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Because adaptation is essential to humandevelopment, virtue ethics can no longerprovide absolute guidelines to individuals and

communities. The concept of a hypothetical virtuous person,

similar to the legal concept of the reasonable

man, is useful in assessing the moral-

appropriateness of human behaviors, where noabsolute measure exists. Virtue ethics emphasizes the roles of character

and reason. Not all people are virtuous,however, so virtue ethics cannot guaranteemorally acceptable behavior. Something morewas needed.

This need gave rise to more prescriptive formsof normative ethics, referred to as rule-based.


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Rule-based ethics, seeks to evaluate moral

considerations against a set of rules that

constitute a moral theory, which determineswhat is seen as the acceptable behavior.

These rules may be divided into two maincategories:

1)‘Consequentialism’ or ‘ Te leology’ – underwhich it is claimed that actions should be judged according to their consequences.

2)‘Deontology’

– under which the opposing

view is assumed, i.e. that rightness orwrongness is a judgement not dependent onconsequences but rather on the intrinsicgoodness of the action in and of itself.


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Consequentialism:

When moral decisions aremade by considering the likely consequences

of an action, one is engaging inconsequentialism.

The most popular approach to

consequentialism is ‘Utilitarianism’ – thebelief that actions should be appraisedaccording to their effect on happiness.


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Utilitarianism as a theory suggests that “anaction is morally right when that actionproduces more total utility for the group as a

consequence than any other alternative does".

The goal of utilitarianism is thus the greatestgood for the greatest number. The notion thatindividual’s happiness can be defineddifferently by different people is problematic.

Utilitarianism therefore requires impartialityand this may be too demanding for mostpeople.


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The utilitarian concept to business goesbeyond the traditional, idealistic definition of‘greatest good for the greatest number’.

An action is morally right if “the (immediateand future) net benefits over costs are

greatest for all affected”.

The cost-benefit analysis is a commonly usedbusiness decision technique, capable of being

utilized quite independently of any ethicalconscience.


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‘Consequentialism’ is also found in hedonism,which gives priority to the pursuit of immediatepersonal pleasure. In so doing, it seeks to obtain a

surplus of hedons (units of pleasure) over dolors(units of pain) from each and every action.

Unlike universal happiness, hedons and dolors are

usually realized in the short tem, thus makinghedonism a less complex rule than utilitarianism.This has negative implications, both for theindividual and societies, - for example, robbing a

bank would be an acceptable action for a hedonist- but immediate short-term personal pleasureseldom leads to long-term happiness (the robberbecomes a fugitive or a prisoner).


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A third form of consequential reasoning isethical egoism, where in the case of a conflict

of interest between what is good for oneindividual and generally good for society, theindividual should place his own happiness first.

Although it seems perfectly rational, egoismcould never be propagated as a universal moralprinciple, as it contradicts many of the otherminimum conditions for morality, notably

responsibility and concern for others.


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‘Deontology’ focuses purely on the intrinsic

rightness of an action, without regard for its

consequences.

Derived from two Greek words: deion, from dei,meaning 'must'; and logos, meaning 'the word'deontology is in essence the ‘

account of the

musts’

.

Deontologists therefore believe in the absolute

necessity of duty, irrespective of the rewards orpunishments that may follow. So, for example,the deontologist would not tell a lie, even if byso doing he might save the lives of many people.


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Deontology is not unlike virtue ethics, in thesense that as a moral theory its goal is foreveryone to act virtuously at all times.

The difference is that it seeks to prescribemoral duties by promoting an imperative to actmorally, assuming that people will not, ofthemselves, always act in virtuous ways.

It conforms to most of the minimum

conditions for morality, in particularresponsibility, concern for others, consistency,universality, and reason.


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‘Meta-ethics’ – It is a relatively new term, whichappears to have been introduced into the vocabularyof philosophy only in the twentieth century, meta-ethics is the study of ethics itself. It a ttempts to

fathom the m eaning of terms such as right, good,

and ought.

A meta-ethical view of a problem is not concerned

with determining what the right action is, but ratherwith the va lidity of the under lying moral theory.

It is seen as a “second-order activity (that) usuallyonly comes into play when ordinary moral discoursebreaks down or runs into difficulty”.

This usually occurs when two people approach thesame decision from two different perspectives,known as ‘moral objectivism and ethical relativism’.


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Moral objectivism claims that there can be

agreement on what is moral, that is to say

there exists a moral truth that can be

discovered by everyone in an objective way,and everyone should therefore live by thesame moral theory.

Absolutism claims that there is

only one truemoral system. It is therefore a stronglyobjectivist view that demands that everyone

adopt the same normative system, whetherteleological, deontological, or virtue-based.


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On what basis should we decide which moraltheory to adopt?

Naturalists believe that the world’s naturalorder provides such answers. They reason thatif something is, then that’s simply how it ought

to be.

To the naturalist, the presence or absence of aphenomenon in the realm of nature is sufficient

reason to accept or reject it as moral in thehuman realm. Since they expect everyone toagree on the natural order of things, naturalismis a form of objectivism.


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It is impossible to determine whether one moraltheory is more valid than another.

Thus, in direct opposition to moral objectivism,ethical relativism claims that there can be nodefinite or objective moral truth.

People can therefore differ on moral issues and,although we can argue about why and how wediffer, at the end of it all we will simply have toagree to differ.

Intuitionists claim that truth can be seen

immediately upon reflection, and therefore tothe reflective person right and wrong is

immediately self-evident.


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With the advent of a ‘global village’ and theresultant exposure to different cultures,people are now realizing that “what is right in

one culture is not necessarily right insomeone else’s”.

This has given rise tocultural relativism.

Adapting to the cultural mores of a foreigncountry with which one is attempting toconduct business was once considered a

moral duty but certain countries have recentlydeclared it a questionable practice. How thencan cultures ever agree on what is ethical?


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An extreme form of ethical relativism is moralsubjectivism, which holds that each person isentitled to his own beliefs, and they cannot

therefore be judged by another.

Where relativism claims that there can neverbe general agreement on moral issues,subjectivism takes moral dissensus to theextreme – agreement on moral issues cannotbe expected between any two people since

individual preference is the only valid standardof moral judgement.


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Regardless of any moral theories, certain minimumconditions for morality exist. Morality works bestwhen it has been formed as part of our character,

i.e. where it is unnecessary to impose anyparticular theory of morality on ourselves; wesimply act always in accordance with our personalvalues, which are trustworthy because they wereformed around a right moral value system. This isthe basis of virtue ethics .

Morality as responsibility means acting inaccordance with other people s concerns, rights

and expectations. That means not only refrainingfrom doing things that cause harm to others, butalso actively pursuing their welfare – it implies theimperative to do as we say and believe.


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Morality as concern for others has to do withunderstanding how others experience a loss,for example, which compels us to not want to

impose a loss on another.

Morality asreason - In order for moral actions

to stand the test of reason they should be

justifiable according to an objective set ofcriteria?

Morality as consistency means that similar

cases are treated similarly. It is the absence ofdouble standards.

Morality as universality means the samecond itions must be applied to all concerned.


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WHICH THEORY APPEARS PRAGMATIC &

RATIONAL? THINK ABOUT IT

THANK YOU

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