Five Ethical Theories: Bare Bones for Business Educators | Gregory ...

Gregory B. Sadler President and Founder, ReasonIO

Ethics in Business Education Project Copyright Gregory B. Sadler, 2011

Goals and Scope of this Workshop  Ethics can be complicated – in reality it often is  Important to be clear and pragmatic about workshop  Limited goal here: designed to help Business faculty with

one specific skill/knowledge area  Presumes only most basic knowledge about Ethics  The Key Question:

What Do You Need to Know To Assess Students’ Knowledge and Application of Ethical Theories?

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What Do You Need to Know To Assess Students’ Knowledge and Application?  You need basic understanding of each ethical theory  You need to know what to look for in student

responses  You don’t need to be in agreement with any of these

ethical theories  You don’t need to know whether these theories are ultimately correct or not  You don’t need to be concerned with other “big picture” issues, e.g. the origin of ethics

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What We Are Going To Cover  Five Ethical (families of) Theories  Each articulates a particular perspective on

good and bad, right and wrong  Basic Principles / Key Terminology  Important Variations in that family  What to look for in student responses  Knowledge of theory  Application of theory

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Five Theories  Egoism 

the self and its needs

 Utilitarianism 

overall pleasure and pain for all concerned

 Deontology 

duty

 Care Ethics 

relationships, vulnerability, and empathy

 Virtue Ethics 

character

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Three important points  These are not the only Ethical Theories out there  These are among those most frequently discussed in Business Ethics literature  A number of other Ethical Theories which are not the same as these, or reducible to these  Each of these theories is a well-developed system  More complicated than the presentation here  Include their own justifications – not given here  Other terms are sometimes used for some of these

theories - this can be confusing  E.g. “consequentialism,” “teleological ethics” (mis)used

for egoism,

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Other Perspectives Students Might Be Exposed To and Use  Contractarian / Social Contract Theories  “Rights” / “Justice” Theories

 Natural Law Theories  Religiously-Based Ethics (sometimes called “Divine

Command Theory”  Non-Theories  Relativism  “Universalism” EB EP Copyright Gregory B. Sadler, 2011

Ethical Theory 1: Egoism  Famous Proponents: Ayn Rand, Adam Smith  What makes something good or bad, right or wrong, is that

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it satisfies one’s desires, or meets one’s needs Basic Principle: Self-interest of person doing, considering, or affected by the action One should chose the action which most realizes or conduces to one’s own self-interest Important Variation: should the person look simply to self-interest, or to enlightened or rational self-interest? Conception of Rational Self-Interest is basic component of capitalist economy and business models

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Ethical Theory 2: Utilitarianism  Famous Proponents: Jeremy Bentham, J.S. Mill  What makes something good or bad, right or wrong, is that

it produces the greatest amount of pleasure (or lack of pain) for the greatest number of people  Basic Principle: “Greatest Happiness Principle”  Maximizing positive outcomes for the largest number of

people, negative outcomes for lowest number of people  One should chose the action which will lead to the greatest happiness (i.e. pleasure, lack of pain) overall  One’s own pleasure and pain only count as much as any other person’s affected

 Important Variation: Quantitative Utilitarianism vs.

Qualitative Utilitarianism

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Ethical Theory 3: Deontology  Famous Proponents: Immanuel Kant, W.D. Ross  What makes something good or bad, right or wrong, is

that it conforms to some (rational) duty  Basic Principle: Fulfilling duties towards self or other persons  One should chose the action which best conforms to one’s recognized duties  Important Variation: are these duties discovered and understood primarily by using reason (Kantian Deontology), or by healthy common sense (Rossian EB Intuitionist Deontology) EP

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Deontology: Kant and Ross  Kant’s version: Reason reveals our duty  Categorical Imperative  Can the action be universalized?  Does the action treat people as ends, not just means?  Ross’s Version: Common sense intuition reveals our

prima facie duties  Duty of non-injury has priority  Other duties: fidelity, reparation, gratitude, beneficence,

justice, self-improvement EB EP Copyright Gregory B. Sadler, 2011

Ethical Theory 4: Care Ethics  Famous Proponents: Carol Gilligan, Virginia Held,  

 

Michael Slote (developed as feminist response to other ethics –those reflective of experience of men, not women) What makes something good or bad, right or wrong, is that it involves caring for another, and supports relationship with other people Basic Principle: action which is caring towards those who are vulnerable or need support One should chose the action which supports or nurtures other people, particularly those who are most vulnerable (e.g. children, workers) Note: often viewed as supplement to other ethical theories, rather than as comprehensive theory in own right EB EP Copyright Gregory B. Sadler, 2011

Ethical Theory 5: Virtue ethics  Famous Proponents: Aristotle, Confucius  What makes something good or bad, right or wrong, is

that it actually embodies or promotes traits culturally acknowledged as good or bad (e.g. courage, justice)  These in turn lead to greater or lesser realization of potential for fully human lives (“flourishing”  Basic Principle: actions reflective or productive of good or bad character, embodied in developed and lasting traits or habits  Important Variation(s): different traditions and theorists develop different lists of virtues and vices EB EP Copyright Gregory B. Sadler, 2011

Questions About Ethical Theories?

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What should student responses have?  Some basics for all student responses, showing that  

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they understand, and can apply Ethical Theories Correctly identifying the theory they are going to briefly explain and apply Explaining: mentioning basic or general principles of theory Getting those general principles right Application: reasoning from those general principles to the specific case they are studying Getting the application to the case right EB EP Copyright Gregory B. Sadler, 2011

Ethical Theory 1: Egoism  What should the student provide?  Invoke principle of self-interest or something like it  what makes an action right is that it conforms to selfinterest of person doing, considering, or affected by the action (notice: can conflict with others)  Be able to pick out what choice (or set of likely)

consequences is in the person’s best self-interest  This will probably entail invoking a principle of enlightened or rational self interest  Actually indicate that theory would pick that choice as best EB EP Copyright Gregory B. Sadler, 2011

Ethical Theory 2: Utilitarianism  Invoke Greatest Happiness principle or something like it:  what makes something good or bad, right or wrong, is that it produces the greatest amount of pleasure (or lack of pain) for the greatest number of people  Another key aspect: no person’s pain or pleasure counts as

more or less valuable than another person’s. Only quantity or intensity counts.  Be able to pick out what choice (or set of likely) consequences is likely to bring about greatest happiness overall for all concerned  This will probably entail some sort of tallying or calculation of likely pains and pleasures for stakeholders  Actually indicate that theory would pick that choice as best EB EP Copyright Gregory B. Sadler, 2011

Ethical Theory 3: Deontology  Invoke duty as a principle or something like it:  What makes something good or bad, right or wrong, is that it conforms to a duty discoverable by reason  Not enough to simply say that a person has a duty to do X  Student has to be able to identify what the duty is in general  

For Kantian, explain which formulation of categorical imperative For Rossian, which prima facie duty or duties

 Be able to explain how the particular actions would

correspond to the general duty or go against it  Notice: actions either in conformity with duty or against it.  Actually indicate that theory would pick that choice as best

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Ethical Theory 4: Care Ethics  Invoke principle of care or something like it: what makes

an action good is that  It supports, maintains, or furthers existing relationships  It involves caring for or nurturing another  It is reflective of empathy, particularly towards those who are

vulnerable

 Be able to explain how particular action fits one of these

general emphases  May include discussion of how consequences would affect those being cared for or not being cared for  Actually indicate that theory would pick that choice as best EB EP Copyright Gregory B. Sadler, 2011

Ethical Theory 5: Virtue Ethics  Invoke principle of virtue or something like it  what makes an action right or wrong, is that it reflects   

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or leads to virtue or vice Be able to identify relevant virtue(s) and vice(s) Be able to explain how the particular actions would reflect or lead to virtue(s) or vice(s) May look at consequence of action as providing model for others, how it affects the general culture or individuals Actually indicate that theory would pick that choice as best EB EP Copyright Gregory B. Sadler, 2011

Questions About Application of Ethical Theories?

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An Example of Application: Reporting Inflated Numbers Case  How should a student address this case using the 5 ethical theories?  Egoism 

the self and its needs

 Utilitarianism 

overall happiness

 Deontology 

duty

 Care Ethics 

relationships, vulnerability, and empathy

 Virtue Ethics 

character

 Your Task:  In each of the boxes on the worksheet, write what you would look

for in student responses to the case: Reporting Inflated Numbers

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What would an Egoist Position Be?  Straightforward Egoism:  What is in Barbara’s immediate self-interest?  What consequences would best match up with her interests?  What would contravene her interests?  What act would best realize her self interest?  Rational Self-Interest  What is in Barbara’s longer-term self-interest?  Are there longer-term good or bad consequences (coming from short term bad or good consequences) more important to her self interest?

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What would a Utilitarian Position Be?  Who are all the people possibly affected by Barbara’s

decisions?  What sort of consequences result to them?  Positive consequences (pleasures, or things conducive to

pleasure)  Negative consequences (pains, or things conducive to pain)

 How many people are affected positively or negatively,

and how much, by each possible choice?  Rank-ordering the possible choices  Perhaps doing a cost-benefit analysis

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What would a Deontological Position Be?  What duties does Barbara have?  Duties towards other people?  Duties towards herself?  Which actions or choices will fulfill those duties, and which will go against them?  Kantian perspective  Can Barbara’s possible choices be universalized?  Will Barbara be treating other people as mere means to ends, or treating them as ends?  Rossian Perspective  Do Barbara’s possible choices violate or fulfill any prima facie duties? EB  Is there any conflict of duties in this situation? EP

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What would a Care Ethics Position Be?  What relationships (if any) are at stake in this

scenario?  Relationships Barbara has with others?  Relationships of other people?

 Are there any people who she can or should care for?

 Are there any people who are particularly vulnerable to

her actions?  (does a care perspective actually contribute to ethical evaluation of this situation? If not, why not?) EB EP Copyright Gregory B. Sadler, 2011

What would a Virtue Ethics Position Be?  What sort of character should Barbara have or display

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in her actions? What sort of character should she not have or display in her actions What good or bad character traits in particular are relevant? What actions or choices will reflect or produce good or bad character traits? Will Barbara’s actions model good or bad character EB traits for other people? EP Copyright Gregory B. Sadler, 2011

Questions ?  Ethics in Business Education Project partnering philosophers and business educators and professionals

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