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THE ETHICS OF CARE (CONTD.):Morality in International Contexts

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Business Ethics ­MGT610
VU
LESSON 13
THE ETHICS OF CARE (CONTD.)
The American philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre has claimed that a virtue is any human
disposition that is praised because it enables a person to achieve the good at which human
"practices" aim. Pincoffs suggests that virtues include all those dispositions to act, feel, and
think in certain ways that we use as the basis for choosing between persons or between
potential future selves. In general, the virtues seem to be dispositions that enable people to deal
with human life. However, it also seems that what counts as a moral virtue will depend on one's
beliefs and the situations one faces.
Virtue theory says that the aim of the moral life is to develop the dispositions that we call
virtues, and to exercise them as well. The key action guiding implication of virtue theory, then,
can be summed up in the claim that:
"An action is morally right if, in carrying out the action, the agent exercises, exhibits,
or develops a morally virtuous character, and it is morally wrong to the extent that by
carrying out the action the agent exercises, exhibits, or develops a morally vicious
character."
The wrongfulness of an action can be determined by examining the character the action tends
to produce (or the character that tends to produce the action). It also provides a useful criterion
for evaluating our social institutions and practices.
An ethic of virtue, then, is not a fifth kind of moral principle that should take its place alongside
the principles of utilitarianism, rights, justice, and caring. Instead, an ethics of virtue fills out
and adds to utilitarianism, rights, justice, and caring by looking not at the actions people are
required to perform, but at the character they are required to have.
Morality in International Contexts
Though the principles discussed in the chapter so far are clear enough, how they are to be
applied in foreign countries is more complex. Petty bribery, which is considered unethical in
the U.S., is standard practice in Mexico; nepotism and sexism occur as a matter of course in
some Arabic business environments. Should multinationals follow the laws of the less
developed countries in which they operate? Should they try to introduce their own standards?
How do they treat their own employees doing the same job in two very different countries? Do
they pay them the same wage?
The following four questions can help clarify what a multinational corporation ought to do in
the face of these difficulties:
1. What does the action really mean in the local culture's context?
2. Does the action produce consequences that are ethically acceptable from the point of
view of at least one of the four ethical theories?
3. Does the local government truly represent the will of all its people?
4. If the morally questionable action is a common local practice, is it possible to conduct
business there without engaging in it?
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Table of Contents:
  1. INTRODUCTION:Business Issues
  2. INTRODUCTION (CONTD.)
  3. THEORY OF ETHICAL RELATIVISM
  4. MORAL DEVELOPMENTS AND MORAL REASONING
  5. MORAL REASONING:Arguments For and Against Business Ethics
  6. MORAL RESPONSIBILITY AND BLAME
  7. UTILITARIANISM:Utilitarianism: Weighing Social Costs and Benefits
  8. UTILITARIANISM (CONTD.):rule utilitarianism, Rights and Duties
  9. UNIVERSALIZABILITY & REVERSIBILITY:Justice and Fairness
  10. EGALITARIANS’ VIEW
  11. JOHN RAWLS' THEORY OF JUSTICE:The Ethics of Care
  12. THE ETHICS OF CARE:Integrating Utility, Rights, Justice, and Caring
  13. THE ETHICS OF CARE (CONTD.):Morality in International Contexts
  14. MORALITY IN INTERNATIONAL CONTEXTS:Free Markets and Rights: John Locke
  15. FREE MARKET & PLANNED ECONOMY:FREE TRADE THEORIES
  16. LAW OF NATURE:Theory of Absolute Advantage, Comparative Advantage
  17. FREE MARKETS AND UTILITY: ADAM SMITH:Free Trade and Utility: David Ricardo
  18. RICARDO & GLOBALIZATION:Ricardo’s Assumptions, Conclusion
  19. FREE MARKET ECONOMY:Mixed Economy, Bottom Line for Business
  20. COMPETITION AND THE MARKET:Perfect Competition
  21. PERFECT COMPETITION
  22. MONOPOLY COMPETITION:Oligopolistic Competition
  23. OLIGOPOLISTIC COMPETITION:Crowded and Mature Market
  24. OLIGOPOLIES AND PUBLIC POLICY:Ethic & Environment, Ozone depletion
  25. WORLDWATCH FIGURES:Population Year, Agriculture, Food and Land Use
  26. FORESTS AND BIODIVERSITY:The Ethics of Pollution Control
  27. THE ETHICS OF POLLUTION CONTROL:Toxic Chemicals in Teflon
  28. THE ETHICS OF POLLUTION CONTROL
  29. THE ETHICS OF POLLUTION CONTROL:Recommendations to Managers
  30. COST AND BENEFITS:Basis of social audit, Objectives of social audit
  31. COST AND BENEFITS:The Ethics of Conserving Depletable Resources
  32. COST AND BENEFITS:The Club of Rome
  33. THE ETHICS OF CONSUMER PRODUCTION AND MARKETING:DSA Comments
  34. THE ETHICS OF CONSUMER PRODUCTION AND MARKETING:Should Consumers Bear More Responsibility?
  35. THE CONTRACT VIEW OF BUSINESS' DUTIES TO CONSUMERS
  36. THE CONTRACT VIEW OF BUSINESS' DUTIES TO CONSUMERS:The Due Care Theory
  37. THE SOCIAL COSTS VIEW OF THE MANUFACTURER’S DUTIES
  38. ADVERTISING ETHICS:The Benefits of Advertising, The harm done by advertising
  39. ADVERTISING ETHICS:Basic Principles, Evidence, Remedies, Puffery
  40. ADVERTISING IN TODAY’S SOCIETY:Psychological tricks
  41. ADVERTISING IN TODAY’S SOCIETY:Criticism of Galbraith's Work
  42. ADVERTISING IN TODAY’S SOCIETY:Medal of Freedom
  43. ADVERTISING IN TODAY’S SOCIETY:GENERAL RULES, Substantiation
  44. ADVERTISING IN TODAY’S SOCIETY:Consumer Privacy, Accuracy
  45. THE ETHICS OF JOB DISCRIMINATION:Job Discrimination: Its Nature