There are a number of factors that tend to play a very significant role in the human life, such as humanity, love, brotherhood, sympathy. Amongst such factors is the one that is called ethics. Basically, ethics finds its roots in philosophy and is concerned with the concept of right and wrong. It is ethics that tells us that what is right and what is wrong. In other words, it is the branch of philosophy that aims at recommending concepts regarding one’s conduct. Like every field of life, businesses have also been affected by ethics. Previously, business was considered simply as a means of generating profits for the owners without any positive impact on the society. However, now the scenario has changed with the development of the term corporate social responsibility. There have been various approaches that had been taken towards corporate social responsibility, including Kantian ethics, virtue ethics and utilitarian ethics (Bucar et.al, 2003, pp. 261-281).
Kantian ethics is an ethical theory that was put forward by a German philosopher Immanuel Kant. In his theory, he emphasized that good will is the basic factor behind any good action, i.e. any action shall be considered as a good one if it is based on goodwill (Bowie, 1999). This theory has been playing a major role in the development of corporate social responsibility. In view of Kant, particular circumstances or consequences are not the factors on which the decisions regarding right and wrong are dependent. Perhaps, he thought that morality is strongly related to certain principals that were unchangeable and should be applied by humans to all ethical problems ((Porter et.al, 2006, pp. 78-92).
In contrast, virtue ethics lays it basis on the virtues or the moral character of t...
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...ativities at the same time (Holme et.al, 1999).
Here it would be worth mentioning the initiatives taken by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to fulfill its CSR. According to the company’s CEO, the company has strived hard in the past six years to enhance the ability of their products for the patients, and at the same time ensuring improvement of the financial performance for their shareholders. He added that the company launched several plans to enhance the way of selling and marketing their products to the medical practitioners in order to bring their activities in alignment with the core interests of the patients and at the same time attempted to eliminate the perception of conflict interest. He further said that the company is committed towards making available its new malaria vaccine that has proved to be very effective at a not-for-profit price (GlaxoSmithKline, 2013).
Virtue ethics is an approach that “deemphasizes rules, consequences and particular acts and places the focus on the kind of person who is acting” (Garrett, 2005). A person’s character is the totality of his character traits. Our character traits can be goo...
There are questions about transplant allocation in regards to the four major ethical principles in medical ethics: beneficence, autonomy, nonmaleficence and justice. Beneficence is the “obligation of healthcare providers to help people” that are in need, autonomy is the “right of patients to make choices” in regards to their healthcare, nonmaleficence, is the “duty of the healthcare providers to do no harm”, and justice is the “concept of treating everyone in a fair manner” ("Medical Ethics & the Rationing of Health Care: Introduction", n.d., p. 1).
Ethical judgements limit the methods available in the production of knowledge in both the arts and the natural sciences. Discuss.
What is right and wrong? This question that has been asked throughout history all over the world that perplexes society even today. Many philosophers have attempted to answer this question, but it is hard to make out what the right answer would be or even if it can be answered. Who would be able to tell? That’s why we as individuals must make up our own minds on what is right or wrong. We can only hope to find our own moral path. Though it is up to us we can take a look at philosophers of the past to be a guiding hand at times.
Ethics is a branch of philosophy that deals with the moral principles and values that govern our behavior as human beings. It is important in the human experience that we are able to grasp the idea of our own ethical code in order to become the most sensible human beings. But in that process, can ethics be taught to us? Or later in a person’s life, can he or she teach ethics the way they learned it? It is a unique and challenging concept because it is difficult to attempt to answer that question objectively because everybody has his or her own sense of morality. And at the same time, another person could have a completely different set of morals. Depending on the state of the person’s life and how they have morally developed vary from one human
In the profession of Dental Hygiene, ethical dilemmas are nearly impossible to avoid, and most hygienists at some point in their professional life will have to face and answer ethical questions. Some ethical conflicts the dental hygienist may encounter can be quite complex and an obvious answer may not be readily available. In the article Ethical Decision Making, Phyllis Beemsterboer suggests an ethical decision-making model can aide the dental hygienist in making appropriate decisions when confronted with an ethical situation, and that the six-step model can serve dental hygienists in making the most advantageous ethical decision (2010).
Business ethics simply can be defined as the application of business values in the business practice of a company (Seawell 2010, p. 2). For a multinational company, business ethics is one of the critical aspects need to be taken into account in business decision-making processes. Failure to give attention on ethics may bring consequences on company’s reputation (Meyer & Jebe 2010, p. 159). The company is expected not only to pursue its own profits but also contributing to the environmental and social welfare of the community where it operates (Svensson & Wood 2008, p. 308).
The code of ethics are a guide of principles designed to help professionals conduct business honestly and with integrity.1Most organization have codes of ethics that its members are required to follow and it lays out the rules and acceptable behavior of its the members of ethics and which actions are acceptable or not acceptable business practices. One industry where professional codes of ethics is important is health care. Most health care workers belong to an accredited organization of their profession, such American Medical Association (AMA), American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), and American Nurses Association. They may also be required to have additional certification and rules they must follow based on the laws of the individual
The term “ethics” refers to an external set of rules that have been established by an institution or organization, for example, a university, and the members are expected to follow them. On the other hand, integrity refers to an individuals’ internal set of principles that guides their actions and behavior (Czimbal and Brooks n.p.). As a rule, people are usually rewarded when they follow ethical codes of conduct by an external committee or board that monitors their behavior. For a person of high integrity, the benefits are usually intrinsic. Moreover, such individuals always make the right decisions even when they are not being watched. Therefore, this feature of character is often influenced by a person’s upbringing. In
As a deontological, or duty-based, theory, Kantianism is focus on intent. If the intent behind an action is morally praiseworthy and fits into the categorical imperative, it must be ethical. The categorical imperative is the main element in Kantianism, and it states that you must act as if it was universal law. This is similar to the Golden Rule of “treat others how you wish to be treated” and is a way to determine whether an act is morally praiseworthy. Kantian ethics are different from utilitarianism in that happiness is not a
Both Kantian and virtue ethicists have differing views about what it takes to be a good person. Kantian ethicists believe that being a good person is strictly a matter of them having a “good will.” On the other hand, virtue ethicists believe that being a good person is a matter of having a good character, or being naturally inclined to do the right thing. Both sides provide valid arguments as to what is the most important when it comes to determining what a person good. My purpose in writing this paper is to distinguish between Kantian ethics and virtue ethics, and to then, show which theory is most accurate.
The Kantianism is a theory created by the philosopher Immanuel Kant. The name of the theory is derived from his last name and it is originated with the aim to guide people towards a right and moral behavior. This moral ideal encourages people to make decisions based on doing what the individual is duty to do, what is right and valuable, which is within the moral and ethical range. The center of this theory is to consider other people and have in mind what that action will cause to others. This means to choose the decision not only thinking about your own benefit but also in others; as Kantian said “when human beings are treated merely as a means to an end, they are being treated as the equivalent objects and are being denied their basic
Moral ethics is the belief that all human beings are born to know right from wrong. We come into this world as good people, but the temptations and challenges in life influence our mind set to as it will. Every person on Earth chooses if they’re to follow through with their life of good or go down the path of bad. “A person’s moral ethics” (unknown.)
Business Ethics are much more than the buzz word stories on late night news. The Corporate Social Responsibility of a company goes well beyond that. “Business Ethics are moral guidelines for the conduct of business based on notions of what is right, wrong and fair.” (Bellow, 2012). Individual backgrounds play a huge role in person by person code of conduct can vary from employee to employer. To help solve some grey areas in what is ethically correct, companies now make a code of conduct that is over everyone in the company. This code of responsibility helps employees have better understanding of what is required of each and every one of them. “Corporate Social Responsibility is a business philosophy which stresses the need for
Business ethics and social responsibility are two concepts many individuals believe go along together for corporations in the business environment. Business ethics are the moral values a company uses to ensure all employees action in a standard manner when completing business functions. Social responsibility is typically a conceptual theory that governments and the general public hold, believing that businesses should not conduct themselves in a manner counter to cultural or societal norms. The connubial of these concepts happens when companies introduce a written code of ethics to demonstrate that the company only acts in its greatest interest so long as it does not damage the company’s social responsibility.