On the Ethics Behind “Business Ethics”
Ethics in business and economics is often attacked for being too superficial. By elaborating the conclusions of two such critics of business ethics and welfare economics respectively, this article will draw the attention to the “ethics behind” these apparently well-intended, but not always convincin...
Main Author: | |
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Format: | Electronic Article |
Language: | English |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
Journals Online & Print: | |
Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
Published: |
Springer
2004
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In: |
Journal of business ethics
Year: 2004, Volume: 53, Issue: 1, Pages: 3-8 |
Further subjects: | B
the just society
B Business Ethics B Welfare economics B totality and infinity B Levinas' fundamental ethics |
Online Access: |
Volltext (JSTOR) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
Summary: | Ethics in business and economics is often attacked for being too superficial. By elaborating the conclusions of two such critics of business ethics and welfare economics respectively, this article will draw the attention to the “ethics behind” these apparently well-intended, but not always convincing constructions, by help of the “fundamental ethics” of Emmanuel Levinas. To Levinas, responsibility is more basic than language, and thus also more basic than all social constructions. Co-operation relations in organizations, markets and value networks are generated from personal relations and personal responsibilities. It is not sufficient to integrate ethics in an impersonal, rational system, neither in business organizations nor in the world economy. Ethics has its source not in rationality, but in the personal. |
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ISSN: | 1573-0697 |
Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of business ethics
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Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1023/B:BUSI.0000039395.63115.c2 |