THREE APPROACHES TO ETHICS 17608450-Ethics-and-Values-in-Business

The field of ethics, also called moral philosophy, involves systematizing, defending, and
recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior. Philosophers today usually divide
ethical theories into three general subject areas or three main approaches to ethics –
Normative Ethics,
Descriptive Ethics and
Meta-Ethics.
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NORMATIVE ETHICS:

This was the prevalent form of ethics in philosophy until the end of the 19th century.
What things are good and bad and what kind of actions / behavior are right and wrong.
It involves how people ought to act on the principles, how they make moral choices,
and how rules apply to individual lives. It includes a consideration of the importance of
human freedom, and a discussion of the limits of a human's responsibility for moral
decisions and for the consequences of actions. Consideration for the role of conscience
in moral decision making is also a part of Normative ethics. This may come from an
established group of culture, such as the Christian tradition, or it may be based on
some other way of thinking. This is the traditional way of doing Ethics.

DESCRIPTIVE ETHICS:

It is the study of ways in which different people and different societies have answered
moral questions. It can be described as moral sociology or moral anthropology, a
description of the moral code prevailing in different societies. It involves different
approaches inside one society to the resolution of ethical problems.

META-ETHICS:

This is sometimes called moral philosophy or philosophical ethics. This group attracts
most interest today. It seeks to understand the meaning and function moral language,
of ethical terms like good and bad. It looks at the logic used in arriving at the
conclusion of an argument that justifies a moral choice. Posing an ethical question
illustrates the different ways the two positions respond to it. If you asked the question
"Is pre-marital sex right," a Normative Ethical answer would be more concerned with
the reasons why it might be right or wrong, how they relate to certain teachings, or
traditions of, say the Christian Church, or some other group. A meta-Ethical response
would be more interested in what you mean by right, and what it means by a right
sexual action as opposed to a wrong one. Meta Ethics has produced a number of
different schools, which we will look at over the coming few weeks:

Ethical Naturalism (Definism)

 Ethical Non-naturalism (Intuitionism)
 Ethical Non-cognitivism (Emotivism)
FOUR VIEWS OF ETHICS 17608450-Ethics-and-Values-in-Business

Recent corporate scandals including Enron, WorldCom, Tyco, and ImClone may cause
many toconclude that corporate has no ethics. The term ethics refers to rules and
principles that define right and wrong conduct.

FOUR VIEWS OF ETHICS

1.UTILITARIAN VIEW of ethics says that:

 Ethical decisions are made solely on the basis of their outcomes or consequences.

 Greatest good is provided for the greatest number.

 Encourages efficiency and productivity and is consistent with the goal of profit
maximization

2. RIGHTS VIEW of ethics

It is concerned with respecting and protecting individual liberties and privileges such as
the rights to privacy, free speech, and due process.

 Respecting and protecting individual liberties and privileges

 Seeks to protect individual rights of conscience, free speech, life and safety, and
due process.

 To make ethical decisions, managers need to avoid interfering with the

fundamental rights of others.

3. Theory of Justice View of ethics

It is where managers impose and enforce rules fairly and impartially and do so by
following all legal rules and regulations.

 Organizational rules are enforced fairly and impartially and follow all legal rules
and regulations.

 Protects the interests of underrepresented stakeholders and the rights of

Employees.

4. INTEGRATIVE SOCIAL CONTRACTS theory proposes that ethical decisions be

based on existing ethical norms in industries and communities in determining what
constitutes right and wrong.

 Acts are moral when they promote the individual’s best long-term interests,
which ultimately leads to the greater good.

 Individualism is believed to lead to honesty and integrity because that works

best in the long run

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