Classical Philosophy In

Business
SOCRATES: HAVE THE
POWER TO DISAGREE
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Socrates
• Was born in the city of Athens in 469 B.C
• Son of poor parents; his father was a sculptor and
his mother is a midwife
• Early in life, he took and continued the occupation
of his father for quite sometime
• Afterward, he became a soldier as volunteer in the
Peloponnesian War
• After he retired from the army, he dedicated his
time and energies to the quest of wisdom
• It was in this connection that he sensed he was
called upon to study himself by questioning otherADD A FOOTER

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Socrates Philosophy
Socrates was the first person to give a
practical and political focus to philosophy and
ethics. He believed, to the contrary of many
around him, that the most applicable questions
that philosophy had to deal with are related to
how people should live their lives, what kinds of
actions were righteous, and how people should
live mutually in communities and states.
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 Socrates equated knowledge with virtue, which
eventually leads to ethical conduct. He believed that the
only life worth living was one that was carefully examined.
He looked for principles and actions that were worth living
by, creating an ethical base upon which decisions should be
made. Socrates definitely believed that knowledge and
understanding of virtue, or “the good”, was enough for
someone to be happy. To him, knowledge of the good was
almost similar to an enlightened state. He believed that no
person could willingly decide to do something damaging
or harmful if they were completely aware of the value of
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Application to business
In the business world, managers should not
sleepwalk or simply go along with the crowd. In
order to live a virtuous life, morally unacceptable
policies and practices must be prevented even
though “everyone else was doing it”. Managers
should be responsible in their actions and must be
prepared to be fired or femoted rather than go
against their conscience.
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A good manager is someone with a
functionally relevant set of virtues with a
view to personal success and moral
excellence. An organization must encourage
independent thinkers and their employees to
follow their conscience. Employees too must
provide critical feedback to managers. This is
to create opportunities for good people to
“blow the whistle” in cases of bad behaviors.
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PLATO: THE
POWER TO RULE
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Plato
• Was born in the city of Athens in the year 427 B.C.
• He belonged to an aristocratic family. His father,
Ariston, was a descendant of King Codrus, and
his mother, Perictione, claimed to have been
descended from the well-known lawgiver Solon
• His father died and his mother remarried her
uncle, Pyrilampes, a Greek politician and
ambassador to Persia
• As a boy, he achieved merit as an athlete and was
also acknowledged for his amazing mental
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Plato’s Philosophy
Beginning his early youth he had been fascinated in
political affairs. He believed that only those persons who
possessed scholarly as well as ethical qualities should be
trusted with the control to rule above others.
Another Plato’s prime belief was that a person must
study themselves in order to find out their level of
character. He believed that personal development and
personal insight is the only means to reveal the gifts that
God has given everyone.
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 Plato was famous for his discussions on the
subject of reality. He believed that everything was
founded in perception and the physical world is the
lesser world in every way. He believed that most of
the greater world was not clear. He hated people
who place all their faith in their physical senses and
not their intellectual senses for the intention of
collecting insight. The weight Plato put on the
intellectual abilities indeed makes him one of the
original personal development authorities.
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Application in business
In business it is always important to know the
strengths and weaknesses of everyone in the
organization, whether a top executive or an ordinary
employee. This can only be achieved by constant acts
of examination and analysis. Any firm must be
aware of the path it is taking and make regular
checks to be sure that things are going well. There
should be continues communication among the
members of the organization. ADD A FOOTER
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 In addition, the company should solicit
inputs from everyone in the company on the
direction of tasks and how well they think they
are going. Having more accurate and updated
information available to the firm will allow
management to make better decisions. It is also
best to hire the right people. Selection should
be done carefully.
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ARISTOTLE: LET PEOPLE
SEEK FULFILLMENT
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Aristotle
• Was born circa 384 B.C. in Stagira
• Aristotle’s father, Nicomachus, was court
physician to the Macedonian king Amyntas II
• Nicomachus died when Aristotle was merely
a young boy but he stayes strongly associated
with and influenced by the Macedonian court
for the rest of his life. His mother, Phaestis is
also believed to have died when Aristotle
was young
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Aristotle’s Philosophy
Contained in his Nicomachean Ethics,
Aristotle established that the role of the leader as
someone who must construct the environment in
which all members of an organization have the
chance to recognize their own potential. He says
that the ethical role of the leader is the
establishment of the conditions under which
followers can attain their full potential and to
enhance his own power. ADD A FOOTER
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 Aristotle was a great biologist as well as a great
philosopher. He based his ethics on a psychological theory
of human nature, claiming that people are by nature
virtuous, rational, social and happiness-seeking.
Governments and organizations have to build the best
systems to allow humans carry out their natural drives.
Aristotle’s philosophy was an influence on Edward Deci
and Richard Ryan’s Self-Determination Theory, which
suggests that employees will work harder for a company,
and perform better, if given tasks they find meaningful and
morally worthwile.
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Application to business
In business, the organization must provide an environment
that is possible to human growth and fulfillment. Employees will
be inspired to work if they know that their contributions to the
company are significant and morally valuable. They will be more
motivated also if they are given the opportunity to nourish their
innate curiosity through learning opportunities. Management
could offer vocational trainings and lectures. They can also be
provided with time and even money for evening learning classes
and give credits to their accomplishments. In terms of distribution
of rewards, based on ethical principle, employees must be
rewarded proportionate to their contributions. ADD A FOOTER
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Thank You!