BUSINESS ETHICS
Genesis of Ethics
Ethics is not recent phenomenon. Ethical codes have been prepared along with the
development of human civilization. In olden days, people might have found some of their actions
was wrong and others right. The question what is right and what is wrong gave birth to ethical and
unethical codes. The word “ethics” is derived from the Greek word ethos (character), and from the
Latin word ‘mores’ (customs). Derived from the Greek word “ethos”, which means “way of
living”, ethics is a branch of philosophy that is concerned with human conduct. It consists in a
code of conduct of human beings living in a society. Ethics examines the rational justification for
our moral judgments; it studies what is morally right or wrong, just or unjust. Together, they
combine to define how individuals choose to interact with one another. In philosophy, ethics
defines what is good for the individual and for society and establishes the nature of duties that
people owe to themselves and to one another. It aims at individual good as well as social good, the
good of mankind as a whole.
Ethics is an attempt to guide human conduct and it is also an attempt to help man in leading
good life by applying moral principles. Ethics refers to well based standards of right and wrong
that prescribe what humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society,
fairness, or specific virtues. Ethics is related to issues of propriety, rightness and wrongness. What
is right is ethical and what is wrong is unethical. It tries to determine the good and right thing to
do; choices regarding right and wrong, good and evil; questions of obligation and value. Ethics is
to consider the practice of doing right actions or what we may call the art of living the good life.
It is also defined as the science of the highest good. Mackenzie defines ethics as “the study
of what is right or good in human conduct” or the “science of the ideal involved in human life”.
So, it is clear that ethics is the study which determines rightness or wrongness of actions. Applied
ethics is the practice of ethics that aims to guide the moral judgment governing the decisions we
make in all areas of our lives .Issues of right and wrong are related to one’s values. In the context
of ethics, values are our standards of right and wrong.
, Background to Ethics
Ethics is the area of philosophy concerned with the evaluation of human conduct.
Philosophers generally distinguish between four or five major branches of ethics: meta-ethics,
ethics and politics (political philosophy), normative ethics, virtue ethics and practical philosophy.
Meta-ethics is concerned with the meaning of philosophical language and moral propositions.
This means that the focus is on the grounds used to justify moral judgments rather than on making
moral judgments.
Political ethics consists mostly of an examination of the good society and the origins and forms of
political power (government).
Normative ethics is the branch of philosophy concerned with developing theories that determine
which human actions are right and wrong. It is evaluative and constructive rather than descriptive
(like meta-ethics). Deontological ethics, utilitarian ethics and virtue ethics are all normative.
Virtue ethics is often viewed as a separate branch in itself. Although it is certainly normative as
well, virtue ethics is distinguished form other forms of normative ethics because it is concerned
with possessing moral traits and living a good life generally as opposed to evaluating actions
alone.
Rule-based ethics seeks to evaluate moral considerations against a set of rules that constitute a
moral theory, which determines what acceptable behaviour is. These rules may be divided into two
main categories, namely consequentialism (also known as teleology) – under which it is claimed
that actions should be judged according their consequences, and deontology – under which the
opposing view is assumed, i.e. that rightness or wrongness is a judgment not dependent on
consequences but rather on the intrinsic goodness of the action in and of itself.
Practical (or applied) ethics applies ethical principles and theories to practical disciplines - this
includes medical ethics, environmental ethics and business ethics. The purpose is to give guidance
on a specific issue such as abortion, GM crops, donor consent, protecting client privacy etc.
BUSINESS ETHICS
Business ethics is nothing but the application of ethics in business. Business ethics is the
Genesis of Ethics
Ethics is not recent phenomenon. Ethical codes have been prepared along with the
development of human civilization. In olden days, people might have found some of their actions
was wrong and others right. The question what is right and what is wrong gave birth to ethical and
unethical codes. The word “ethics” is derived from the Greek word ethos (character), and from the
Latin word ‘mores’ (customs). Derived from the Greek word “ethos”, which means “way of
living”, ethics is a branch of philosophy that is concerned with human conduct. It consists in a
code of conduct of human beings living in a society. Ethics examines the rational justification for
our moral judgments; it studies what is morally right or wrong, just or unjust. Together, they
combine to define how individuals choose to interact with one another. In philosophy, ethics
defines what is good for the individual and for society and establishes the nature of duties that
people owe to themselves and to one another. It aims at individual good as well as social good, the
good of mankind as a whole.
Ethics is an attempt to guide human conduct and it is also an attempt to help man in leading
good life by applying moral principles. Ethics refers to well based standards of right and wrong
that prescribe what humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society,
fairness, or specific virtues. Ethics is related to issues of propriety, rightness and wrongness. What
is right is ethical and what is wrong is unethical. It tries to determine the good and right thing to
do; choices regarding right and wrong, good and evil; questions of obligation and value. Ethics is
to consider the practice of doing right actions or what we may call the art of living the good life.
It is also defined as the science of the highest good. Mackenzie defines ethics as “the study
of what is right or good in human conduct” or the “science of the ideal involved in human life”.
So, it is clear that ethics is the study which determines rightness or wrongness of actions. Applied
ethics is the practice of ethics that aims to guide the moral judgment governing the decisions we
make in all areas of our lives .Issues of right and wrong are related to one’s values. In the context
of ethics, values are our standards of right and wrong.
, Background to Ethics
Ethics is the area of philosophy concerned with the evaluation of human conduct.
Philosophers generally distinguish between four or five major branches of ethics: meta-ethics,
ethics and politics (political philosophy), normative ethics, virtue ethics and practical philosophy.
Meta-ethics is concerned with the meaning of philosophical language and moral propositions.
This means that the focus is on the grounds used to justify moral judgments rather than on making
moral judgments.
Political ethics consists mostly of an examination of the good society and the origins and forms of
political power (government).
Normative ethics is the branch of philosophy concerned with developing theories that determine
which human actions are right and wrong. It is evaluative and constructive rather than descriptive
(like meta-ethics). Deontological ethics, utilitarian ethics and virtue ethics are all normative.
Virtue ethics is often viewed as a separate branch in itself. Although it is certainly normative as
well, virtue ethics is distinguished form other forms of normative ethics because it is concerned
with possessing moral traits and living a good life generally as opposed to evaluating actions
alone.
Rule-based ethics seeks to evaluate moral considerations against a set of rules that constitute a
moral theory, which determines what acceptable behaviour is. These rules may be divided into two
main categories, namely consequentialism (also known as teleology) – under which it is claimed
that actions should be judged according their consequences, and deontology – under which the
opposing view is assumed, i.e. that rightness or wrongness is a judgment not dependent on
consequences but rather on the intrinsic goodness of the action in and of itself.
Practical (or applied) ethics applies ethical principles and theories to practical disciplines - this
includes medical ethics, environmental ethics and business ethics. The purpose is to give guidance
on a specific issue such as abortion, GM crops, donor consent, protecting client privacy etc.
BUSINESS ETHICS
Business ethics is nothing but the application of ethics in business. Business ethics is the
