PHILOSOPHICAL BACKGROUND

OF BUSINESS ETHICS

Business Ethics
Business Ethics is the study of
policies and practices in business
regarding to its certain issues (Ethical
Issues in business).

Business Ethics Issues

These are the following ethical
issues in business such as:
Nepotism
Fraud
Insider Trading
Discrimination
Corporate Social ManagerEmployee
Responsibility
Relation
Bribery
Supplier Fiduciary
Customer
Responsibilities
Relation

Ethics and Philosophy

Philosophy is the science that seeks
to explain the ultimate cause of
everything by the use of human reason
alone.
Since business ethics discusses
about its ethical issues. The Philosophy
must tackle about the human reasons
itself arising these certain kind of
issues.

Divisions of Philosophy
Philosop
hy
Theorica
l
Cosmolo
gy

Semanti
cs

Ontology

Axiology

Metaphys
ics
Psycholo
gy

Aestheti
cs

Theodicy

Ethics

Epistemolo
gy

Practical

Logic

Division of Philosophy
Theoretical Philosophy studies the
truth
to
be
known
e.g.
God,
immortality of the soul, origin of the
universe, and other truth.
Practical Philosophy studies truth to
be acted upon e.g. ethics, axiology,
semantics, and the like.

Theoretical Philosophy
Under theoretical philosophy are:
1.Cosmology studies about the universe
in a scientific and philosophical manner.
2.Ontology deals with the nature of
existence of the things and the status of
reality.
3.Metaphysics studies the nature of
mind, the self, and conciousness.
4.Psychology studies of the human mind
and its behavior.

Theoretical Philosophy
5. Theodicy investigates the nature,
being, and the attributes of God not
based on the bible and divine revelations
but
the
logical
abstractions
and
reasoning.
6. Epistemology concerned with the
definition of knowledge and related
concepts, the source of criteria of
knowledge, its related concept, its kinds,
its veracity, and its relation to other
concepts.

Practical Philosophy
Under practical philosophy are:
1.Semantics studies the meaning of
words, and its linguistic forms, their
function, and their relationship to other
words.
2.Axiology studies values, its origin,
types, and characteristics.
3.Aesthetics study of beauty and art.
4.Logic deals with the nature of thinking
and reasoning using empirical support to
establish truth.

Practical Philosophy
5. Ethics studies the morality of
human acts.

Ethics and Morality

Morality refers to the goodness and
the badness in a human act.
Ethics assumes that people have
their standard of what is good and
what is bad

Ethics as a Normative Science

Ethics is considered as a normative
science because it is concerned with a
systematic study of norms of human
conduct.
Just because humans are subjective
in nature and incapable of being
disputed to anyone, ethics allows us to
live together, productively, and in
harmony with one another.

Ethics
It is the practical science of the
morality of human acts.
It is also a practical science that
guides us in our actions that we may
live rightly and well.

3 Categories of Ethics
1. Descriptive Ethics
2. Normative Ethics
3. Meta Ethics

Descriptive Ethics
It consist of studying and describing the
morality of the people, culture, and the
society. It serves as the foundation of
normative ethics and provides the
standard of the morality of the people,
culture, and the society.
Example:
Physical Egoism - declares result based
on scientific studies.
Cultural Relativism described the
behavior of people when grouped and
observed its cultural realities.

Normative Ethics
It involves moral judgment based on
ethical norm and theory.
3 tasks:
1.To form into related whole the various
norms, rules, and values of societys
morality.
2.To find the basic principle from which
the particular norm can be derived.
3.To justify an ethical norm or moral
principle.

Meta Ethics
It concerns with analysis of the
meaning of words and the logic of
moral reasoning like analyzing the
word good , bad , moral ,
immoral, moral obligation , and
etc.

Ethical Relativism
Ethical relativism claims that when
any two cultures or any people hold
different moral values of action, both
can be right.

Approaches of Moral Difference

1. There is no moral truth.
2. There is no universal moral truth.
3. Deep down, we can find basic moral
truth.
4. There is one universal moral truth.

There is No Moral Truth

It is viewed as there is no ultimate
right or wrong (moral nihilism). Moral
subjectivism holds that moral views
differ from one person to another.

There is No Universal Moral Truth

It is viewed as ethical relativism
which maintains that there are moral
truths that exist but these truths are
relative and dependent on cultures and
beliefs of people.

Deep down, We Can Find Basic Moral

Truth

It believes that despite differences,

people different culture can still agree
on
certain
moral
basics
(soft
universalism).

There is One Universal Moral Truth

It
is
also
known
universalism or moral
which tells that there is
universal moral code that
must follow.

as
hard
absolutism
only one
everybody

Elements of an Action
Motives/
Intentions
End of Actor
Means/ Action in
itself
End of the Act

NonConsequenti
alist

Consequences/R
esult
Probable and
Actual

Consequentia
list

Deontological Ethics
It is also known as non-consequentialist
approach is a body of an ethical theories
that measures and evaluates the nature of
a moral act based on the validity of the
motive of an act.
Examples:
1.Kantian Ethics or Kantianism known as
categorial imperative approach that states
that morality is based on our motives not
by the consequence of an act itself.

Deontological Ethics
2. Divine Command Theory holds that
the standard of the right and wrong
is based on the will of God.

Theological Ethics
It is also known as consequentialist
theory that measures the morality of an
action based on its consequences and
not on the motive or intention of an actor.
Examples
1.Hedonism pleasure is the only good
as end.
2.Utilitarianism the greatest good is the
greatest happiness of the greatest
number of people.

The Moral Sense in Us

Traditional ethics believes that man
has a natural insight to morality which
is being a gift of Creator who gave man
a moral sense.
Theories
1.The Synderesis of Man
2.Theory of Id, Ego, and the Superego
3.Theory of Moral Development

The Synderesis of Man

St. Thomas Aquinas believes that the moral
sense of man is manifested and expressed in 3
ways:
1.Man can distinguish the good and the bad.
2.Man is obligated to do good and avoid evil.
3.Man knows that he is accountable for his
actions.
Synderesis starting point of mans moral
reasoning when he reached the age of
reasoning.

Theory of Id, Ego, and the Superego

Freud believes that the human mind has
3
important
components,
that
is
preconscious,
conscious,
and
unconscious.
Id irrational part in us or the
unconscious instinct.
Ego rational self or the conscious self.
Superego reflects social rules and
values of the society that govern our
behavior.

Theory of Moral Development

It has 3 stages which are:
1. Pre-conventional Found in children. It
define as right behavior mean acting in ones
own best interest.
2. Conventional Found in an ideal civilized
society. It deals with putting oneself in the
other persons shoe.
3. Post conventional Few adults reached to
its stage. In this stage, people realized the
concept of right and wrong even if it defies
to its culture.

2 Ethical System
1. Atheistic Ethics states that only
matter exists and man is responsible
only to himself since there is no
God.
2. Theistic Ethics states that God is a
supreme lawgiver. Everything must
conform to Gods eternal plan of
creation.