Reframing “Morality Pays”: Toward a Better Answer to “Why be Moral?” in Business

This paper revisits the “morality pays” approach to answering the “Why be moral?” question in business. First I argue that “morality pays” is weakest when it needs to be strongest, and thus inadequate to the task. Then I examine and reject a proposed virtue-ethics alternative, arguing that it either...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Corvino, John (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Springer Science + Business Media B. V 2006
In: Journal of business ethics
Year: 2006, Volume: 67, Issue: 1, Pages: 1-14
Further subjects:B Hosmer
B Ethics
B morality pays
B Why be moral?
B Moral Motivation
B ethics pays
B Virtue Ethics
B Moral Reasons
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Summary:This paper revisits the “morality pays” approach to answering the “Why be moral?” question in business. First I argue that “morality pays” is weakest when it needs to be strongest, and thus inadequate to the task. Then I examine and reject a proposed virtue-ethics alternative, arguing that it either collapses into “morality pays” or else introduces a new problem. After sketching an account of moral reasons, I go on to argue that “morality pays” can be reframed, not so much as an answer to “Why be moral,” but as a prescription for reforming corporate institutions.
ISSN:1573-0697
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of business ethics
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1007/s10551-006-9001-0