Name: Karl Jason Comin

Subject: BM 215 Philosophy of Business

The Philosophical Background of Business Ethics

I. Introduction

Introduction Business Ethics as an applied branch of General Ethics must be studied

from the perspective of Philosophy. This is because Ethics is a part of moral principles,

you will not know Ethics without being philosophical.

Ethics and Philosophy Philosophy, etymologically came from two Greek words philos,

which means love and sophia, means wisdom. (Love of Wisdom) Hence, a philosopher

is one who loves wisdom. As a science, philosophy is interested with the meaning of

reality including our human experiences. It is a science that seeks to explain the ultimate

cause of everything by the use of human reason alone.

II. Summary of the Topic/s/Topics Digest

Ethics and Philosophy Ethics is philosophical science that studies the morality of human

act. As a science, Ethics is concerned with the analysis of the nature of the human

conduct from the point of view of morality. The two contradictory Principles 1. Man

believes that there are certain things that he should not do to anyone. 2. Man believes

that values are subjective and incapable of being disputed.

 Divisions of Philosophy 1. Theoretical Philosophy – studies the truth to be known,

e.g. God, immortality of the soul, origin of the universe. 2. Practical Philosophy – studies

truths to be acted upon, e.g. ethics, axiology, semantics, etc.

Divisions of Philosophy PHILOSOPHY THEORETICA L PRACTICAL Cosmology

Origin of universe Ontology The theory of being Metaphysics Meta (beyond) physikon

(nature) Psychology Human/animal behavior Theodicy God on logical abstraction

Epistemology Theory of knowledge Semantics Words and its linguistic forms Axiology

Discourse of value judgment Aesthetics Principles of beauty and art Logic Reasoning to

establish truth Ethics From Greek word “ethos” means “Characteristic way of acting”

which is proper to as a rational being.

Ethics and Morality Morality refers to the quality of goodness or badness in a

human act. Good is described as moral and bad as immoral. It means conformity to the

rules of right conduct. Ethics refer to the formal study of those standards and conduct. It

is also often called “ moral philosophy”.

Ethics as a Normative Science Ethics is considered a Normative Science because

it is concerned with the systematic study of the norms of human conduct, as distinguished

from formal sciences such as Mathematics, chemistry physics etc.. Ethics is a normative

science because it involves a systematic search for moral principles and norms that are

justify our moral judgments.

 III. Recommendations

Business transformation programs and change management initiatives. Companies can

warp their own ethical climate by pushing too much change from the top, too quickly and

too frequently. Leaders in the study reported having to implement staff reduction targets,

dispose of big businesses in major markets, and lead mergers and acquisitions. Some of

these activities included inherent conflicts of interest; others simply caused leaders to

have to act counter to their values (loyalty, for example). Many leaders felt poorly

prepared for the dilemmas they faced and felt compelled to take decisions they later

regretted.

IV. Conclusion

There is no Moral Truth There is no Universal Truth Deep down, we can find basic

Moral Truth There is One Universal Moral truth. There is no ultimate right or wrong. Moral

views differ from one person to another. This results to a subjective morality, in which

case, what is good for one person may be bad for another. Each Culture has its own set

of rules that are valid for that culture, and we have no right to interfere, just as they have

no right to interfere with our rules. This ethical paradigm maintains that there are moral

truths that exist but these truths are relative and dependent on cultures and beliefs of

people.