Teaching PowerPoint Slides - Chapter 3

3
ETHICAL THEORIES AND

PRINCIPLES
Learning Outcomes
At the end of this chapter, you should be able to:

 Explain the fundamentals of moral philosophy
 Differentiate between teleological and deontological
theories of ethics
 Explain influential ethical theories and/or principles
applied in today’s global era
 Discuss the important features of each ethical theory
 List and analyze the strengths and limitations of each
ethical theory, where appropriate
 Apply the ethical theories to make sound business
decisions
BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved
© Oxford Fajar Sdn. Bhd. (008974-T), 2018 3–3
Understanding Moral Philosophy
Fundamentals
 The term ethics is derived from the Greek word, ethos,

which means character, spirit and attitudes of a group of
people or culture (Rahman, 2003).
 Ethics is concerned with what is good or right in human
interaction (Abdullah and Mohamad Zainol Abidin, 2011) and
deals with justice and rights issues (Boatright, 2012). It is
therefore a study of action and how man should act.
 It relates to one’s behaviour and in order to act ethically, one
is dependent on epistemology of ethics knowledge.
 It is impossible to make choices on how to act morally
without knowledge on ethics.

Fundamentals (cont.)
 Ethics is also a branch of philosophy. There are five

branches of philosophy:

 Ethics is divided into two branches: meta-ethics and

normative ethics (Newall, 2005).
 Meta-ethics is the study of where ethical concepts came
from and what they mean. It has two main forms:
moral/ethical relativism and moral/ethical objectivism.
– Moral relativism considers what is right or wrong is not
absolute. It is relative and variable depending on the person,
circumstances and social situation.
– Moral objectivism considers certain acts as objectively right or
wrong, independent of human opinion.


 Normative ethics is ‘a set of principles that guide or regulate

human conduct’ (Rahayu, 2012). It provides general
guidelines for deciding what is morally right or wrong.
 Moral philosophers have classified two types of ethical
theories:
– Teleological theories: The rightness of actions is determined
solely by the amount of good consequences they produce.
These theories are also referred to as consequential theories.
– Deontological theories: also referred to as non-consequential
theories. It denies that consequences are relevant to determining
what we ought to do.

Utilitarian Theory of Ethics
 It is a teleological theory of ethics widely applied by

economists. There are two forms: classical and rule
utilitarianism.
 According to utilitarianism, our obligation or duty in any
situation is to perform the action that will result in the greatest
possible balance of good over evil.
 Utilitarianism thus assesses moral action on the basis of
consequences and goal orientation–how far a decision
maximizes the net utility, where all individuals affected by the
action may expect.

Utilitarian Theory of Ethics (cont.)
 Principles of Utilitarianism

 Forms of Utilitarianism:
– Classical Utilitarianism (Bentham)
• ‘An action is right if and only if it produces the greatest
balance of pleasure over pain for everyone’.
• It judges an action to be right by virtue of the consequences
of performing that action.
• Telling a lie or breaking a promise is right if it has better
consequences than any alternative course of action
(Boatright, 2012).
• This theory seems to support moral relativism rather than
moral objectivity.

– Rule Utilitarianism (Mill)

• ‘An action is right if and only if it conforms to a set of rules
the general acceptance of which will produce the greatest
balance of pleasure over pain for everyone’.
• This relates to the importance of complying with rules.
• It puts emphasis on results only regardless of compliance to
rules.

 Both classical and rule utilitarianism focus on the

consequences or results to determine the rightness of an
action. However, classical utilitarianism emphasizes results
only regardless of compliance to rules, as long as the
consequence of the action gives happiness for everyone.

Kant’s Ethics of Duty Theory
 The theory is a deontological theory which insists that moral

action requires conformity to moral principles. ‘An action is
morally right if and only if the actor is motivated by good
will.’
 Only action done for rational principled reasons from a sense
of duty has moral worth. It is not a matter of weighing up
consequences. Reasons alone can give us the absolute
moral truth and discover our sense of duty.

Aristotle’s Virtue Ethics Theory
 Another deontological theory that is value-based, this theory

begins with a basic assumption that morality is both
necessary and vital for human beings.
 This theory focuses on human virtues, i.e. good character
traits that manifest themselves in habitual action.
 People who compromise morality are degrading themselves
and they have missed their goal in life. Ethics enable
mankind to lead successful rewarding lives.
 Aristotle distinguished two dimensions of humans: the
rational and the irrational.

Aristotle’s Virtue Ethics Theory
(cont.)
 He introduced the concept of mean or moderation in actions.

He does not assume that there is a universal standard that
applies to all people.
 Aristotle defines a virtuous person as someone who has
taken control of his life, cultivated his natural dispositions into
moral virtues, and has always throughout his lifetime found
happiness in his actions based on these developed virtues.
 The virtues include honesty, self-control, courage, justice,
respect, prudence and shame of failures.

Gilligan’s Ethics of Care Theory
 This theory is seen as a feminist theory in the West; a new

approach to moral development. However, this is not the
case in eastern dimensions, where caring is viewed as a
value in a society that promotes collectivism rather than
individualism.
 It propagates a person to be partial to make ethical
decisions. It emphasizes caring for the concrete well-being of
those near to us.
 It emphasizes preserving and nurturing valuable
relationships on individual as well as collective dimensions.

(cont.)
 Three Forms of Caring:
– Caring about something

Concerns one can have for things or ideas where there is
no second person in whose subjective reality one
becomes engrossed.

(cont.)
– Caring after someone

Relates to caring for someone who requires our support
because of some limitations that the person is
experiencing.
– Caring for someone

• The kind of care promoted by Ethics of Care, it is a kind
of care shown by a mother to her child. The ‘caring’ is
not ‘detached’ but ‘engrossed’.
• The values that manifest the virtue of ‘caring’ are
compassion, concern, love and kindness.

Theory of Rights
 What are rights? It can be explained as entitlements of

something.
 To have rights is to be entitled to act on our own or to be
treated by others in certain ways without asking
permission of anyone.
 Rights play an important role in business ethics, as well as in
all moral issues. Employers, employees, consumers, general
public, humans, non-humans each have rights.

Theory of Rights (cont.)
 Various types of rights:

Theory of Rights (cont.)
 Locke’s Natural Rights Theory:

– Human beings have rights, even in the state of nature, and the
justification for uniting into a state is to protect these rights.
– In other words, a society or nation forms a government as a
representative of all members to protect their individual natural
rights as human beings.
– A pivotal natural right to Locke is the right to property. Although
the bounty of the earth is provided by God for the benefit of all,
no one can make use of it without taking some portion as one’s
own. This is done by means of labour, which is a form of
property.

Theory of Justice
 Justice is another important moral concept with a wide range

of applications.
 In a business ecosystem, employees are regarded as one of
the primary stakeholders. They are also valuable assets and
the intellectual property of organizations to achieve the
objectives, mission and vision.
 Likewise, employers must also respect their rights for
survival as individual beings. They must treat employees with
justice by fairly compensating them for their contributions in
respect of their individual rights.

Theory of Justice (cont.)
 Justice is also a religiously accepted fundamental concept for

a good human life.
– Buddhism advocates: Treat all creatures as you would like to
be treated.
– Hinduism reiterates: This is the essence of Morality: do not
do to others which if done to you would cause you pain.
– Christianity says: Whatever you wish that others would do to
you, do so to them.
– Islam reminds its believers to uphold justice in all aspects of
life.

 Justice as a social process refers to the quality of being

morally just and/or demonstration of righteousness, fairness
and equity in just conduct when dealing with others.
 Justice and business ethics are linked relevantly in the
distribution of benefits and burdens (costs) when we
correlate the concepts of justice and rights. It is a moral right
to treat all individuals as free and equal persons out of an act
of justice.
 Justice is an important concept in evaluating social
organization. We can also ask about the justice of the
economic system in which business activity takes place.

 Aristotle’s
Theory of
Justice:

Justice and the Market System
 The world economy today promotes globalization and a free

market system.
 The free market features a system where all economic
decisions are taken by individual households and firms with
no or minimal government intervention.
 It recognizes the rights of individuals to accumulate wealth
and maximizes their potential.

Justice and the Market System
(cont.)
 Rawls’s
Egalitarian/
Justice
theory:


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3

ETHICAL THEORIES AND

At the end of this chapter, you should be able to:

 The term ethics is derived from the Greek word, ethos,

BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved

 Ethics is also a branch of philosophy. There are five

BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved

 Ethics is divided into two branches: meta-ethics and

BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved

BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved

 Normative ethics is ‘a set of principles that guide or regulate

BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved

 It is a teleological theory of ethics widely applied by

BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved

BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved

BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved

– Rule Utilitarianism (Mill)

BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved

 Both classical and rule utilitarianism focus on the

BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved

 The theory is a deontological theory which insists that moral

BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved

 Another deontological theory that is value-based, this theory

BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved

 He introduced the concept of mean or moderation in actions.

BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved

 This theory is seen as a feminist theory in the West; a new

BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved

 Three Forms of Caring:

– Caring about something

BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved

– Caring after someone

– Caring for someone

BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved

 What are rights? It can be explained as entitlements of

BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved

 Various types of rights:

BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved

 Locke’s Natural Rights Theory:

BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved

 Justice is another important moral concept with a wide range

BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved

 Justice is also a religiously accepted fundamental concept for

BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved

 Justice as a social process refers to the quality of being

BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved

BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved

 The world economy today promotes globalization and a free

BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved

BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved

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