In defence of wish lists: business ethics, professional ethics, and ordinary morality
In defence of wish lists: business ethics, professional ethics, and ordinary morality
Business ethics is often understood as a variety of professional ethics, and thus
distinct from ordinary morality in an important way. This article seeks to challenge two ways of defending this claim: first, from the nature of business practice, and second, from the contribution of business. The former argument fails because it undermines our ability to rule out a professional-ethics approach to a number of disreputable practices. The latter argument fails because the contribution of business is extrinsic to business in a way that distinguishes from the established professions. The article ultimately suggests we adopt a more aspirational approach to business ethics, which retains an appeal even in the face of charges of anti-capitalist irrelevance.
business ethics, professional ethics, role ethics
79-107
Sinnicks, Matthew
63b27aef-8672-4fa7-b2fa-388c9af51c57
20 April 2023
Sinnicks, Matthew
63b27aef-8672-4fa7-b2fa-388c9af51c57
Sinnicks, Matthew
(2023)
In defence of wish lists: business ethics, professional ethics, and ordinary morality.
Business and Professional Ethics Journal, 42 (1), .
(doi:10.5840/bpej202347137).
Abstract
Business ethics is often understood as a variety of professional ethics, and thus
distinct from ordinary morality in an important way. This article seeks to challenge two ways of defending this claim: first, from the nature of business practice, and second, from the contribution of business. The former argument fails because it undermines our ability to rule out a professional-ethics approach to a number of disreputable practices. The latter argument fails because the contribution of business is extrinsic to business in a way that distinguishes from the established professions. The article ultimately suggests we adopt a more aspirational approach to business ethics, which retains an appeal even in the face of charges of anti-capitalist irrelevance.
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Sinnicks - forthcoming - In Defence of Wishlists (AM)
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Sinnicks - 2023 - Wish lists
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Accepted/In Press date: 27 October 2021
Published date: 20 April 2023
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
I would like to thank Craig Reeves, Holly Smith, and two anonymous reviewers for BPEJ for comments on previous versions of this paper.
Keywords:
business ethics, professional ethics, role ethics
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 470074
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/470074
ISSN: 0277-2027
PURE UUID: 770ffe0e-3045-40ab-83fe-c6c1526120f4
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Date deposited: 03 Oct 2022 16:35
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 04:13
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Matthew Sinnicks
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