Session 4企业伦理.pptVIP

Business Ethics and Social Responsibility Session 4: Business Ethics in the West: 20th Century The Bread Dilemma Stealing a Loaf of Bread to Feed Your Family? Giving/not giving the bread to the hungry men? Outline Contemporary ethics Anglo-American European Outline The development of business ethics in 20th century The Rise of Corporations in the 20th Century 1950s to 1970s 1980s and onwards Anglo-American Ethics Anglo-American Consequentialism: Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill Pragmatism: John Dewey Consequentialism Consequentialism refers to moral theories that hold that the consequences of a particular action form the basis for any valid moral judgment about that action “All’s well that ends well” Consequentialism This philosophy of utilitarianism argued for a fundamental axiom, it is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong, also known as the greatest happiness principle, or the principle of utility. Consequentialism Consequentialism Benthams ambition in life was to create a Pannomion, a complete utilitarian code of law. Bentham not only proposed many legal and social reforms, but also expounded an underlying moral principle on which they should be based. Consequentialism Mill’s conception of liberty justified the freedom of the individual in opposition to unlimited state control Mills famous formulation of utilitarianism is known as the greatest-happiness principle. It holds that one must always act so as to produce the greatest aggregate happiness among all sentient beings, within reason Consequentialism Pragmatism Pragmatism is a philosophical tradition centered on the linking of practice and theory Although Dewey referred to his philosophy as instrumentalism rather than pragmatism, he was one of the major figures in American pragmatism Pragmatism Pragmatic ethics holds that moral correctness evolves similarly to scientific knowledge: socially over the course of many lifetimes. Thus, we should pr