What will be sketched here is a brief summary of the strands that have now come to make up information ethics. Our ethical framework for writing history should be based around two categories. Instead of constructing a history that is political in focus, we should concentrate instead on what it means to write ethical history. Business ethics is a form of applied ethics or professional ethics, that examines ethical. A system of ethics worthy of the present scientific revival, which would take advantage of all the recent acquisition reconstituting the. Where i would differ from dr harphams argument just slightly is that the key question seems to me not who is doing ethics or what ethics is but where ethics is being done and for whom it is being done. But media and press ethics, computer and internet ethics, and also the ethics of governance and business concern themselves with, amongst other issues, most. Thus science and philosophy have given us both the material strength and the freedom of thoughtwhicharerequiredforcallingintolifetheconstructiveforcesthatmayleadmankind to a new of progress. It is an umbrella term that covers all ethicsrelated issues that come up in the context of doing business. Corporate mergers and acquisitions are undertaken with the belief that the combined companies will be able to grow more rapidly and be competitively stronger than they were as independent companies. This latter question has also arisen for philosophers, who may approach business ethics or applied ethics in general from the perspective of a study of ethical theory.
As we can see from our rapid historical overview, individual ethics is often transferred. Pdf ethics, as a philosophical discipline, was first structured and. According to tomas paul and linda elder of the foundation for critical thinking, most people confuse ethics with behaving in accordance with social conventions, religious. In philosophy, ethics studies the moral behavior in humans, and how one should act. Association of social workers in nigeria are not bereft of code of ethics. Summarized from short history of ethics by rogers, r. The first is from an encyclopedia of war and ethics and the second is an online source from the stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. Mergers and acquisitions with a reference to ethical, social and human resource. The first managerial textbook on business ethics was business ethics by frank chapman sharp and phillip d. Ethics is a complement to aesthetics in the philosophy field of axiology. Aristotles ethical works are teaching manuals on the art of living.
Two ethical issues in mergers and acquisitions springerlink. A very brief overview of the history of moral thought must unanimously highlight two well. Definition of ethics 1 the discipline of dealing with what is good and bad, with moral duty and obligation a set of moral principles or values the principle of conduct governing an individual or group. Moral principles may be viewed either as the standard of conduct that individuals have constructed for themselves or as the body of obligations and duties that a particular society requires of its members. Pdf chapter 3 values, ethics and principle researchgate. Theories of ethics center for future consciousness. An ethics can be expressed and practiced putting the emphasis on what a person should do in order to be ethical. No history of morality can be philosophically neutral, contra ayer. Business ethics reflect the norms of each historical period.
Argumentation can combine several arguments, which all support the same. Philosophers working in ethics often distinguish histories. For example, ways of evaluating and thinking about the ethical nature of slavery have changed substantially, and the reasons for these changes prove incredibly interesting. The management teams of both companies face ethical dilemmas prior to beginning the merger, as negotiations proceed and. Discussion of information ethics in the discourse of information science has tended to grow out of discussion of the ethics of librarianship. Ethics and history interact with one another in two ways. If the positive consequences outweigh the negative ones then the action is morally proper.
Mergers and acquisitions with a reference to ethical. This unit provides an introduction to the study of ethics and a brief overview of some of the main branches of philosophical thought about ethics. As well as introducing the central ideas that relate to environmental and development ethics and how these two areas of ethical study interare related, this unit shows why ethics as a discipline can. They endeavored to combine in varied ways the intellectualism and utilitarianism of. Ethical dilemmas during mergers, acquisitions and takeovers. Publication date 1902, 1906 printing topics ethics history publisher london.
But for aristotle the happy man is neither a noble savage, nor man in his natural state, but the educated man. The history of business ethics is as old as the religious books like the bible and the holy quran. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves. Its tough enough to ensure a consistent corporate culture within one large company. The view of the importance of ethics in the leading positions is stressed in many publications. The known history of pure ethics or ethics moral theories begin with ancient greek philosophers sophists, socrates, socratic schools, plato, aristotle, epicurus, stoics and after recovered by early english positivists has been the main topic of discussions in the medieval times in europe. Consequentialist theories on the other hand determine the value of an action on the grounds of a costbenefit analysis of its consequences. Studies in the history of ethics the british moralists of the eighteenth century have been divided into rationalists and empiricists on the question of how moral judgments are formed. One has to do with the rights of employees affected in mergers and acquisitions and the second concerns the responsibilities of shareholders during these activities. List of books and articles about history of ethics. One of the most practical applications for the study of philosophy is in the field of ethics.
Ethics and bioethics, a new discipline which has developed in recent years, can nourish our critical thinking and orient our judgement. There is, however, one branch of knowledge which behind. Applied and professional ethics 21 common to these three works in applied ethics is that each of them has influenced the discussion in applied ethics in a profound way. The medical profession, legal profession, accounting profession and countless others maintain individual codes of conduct that guide the manner in which those pro fessionals should behave. Outlines of the history of ethics for english readers by sidgwick, henry, 18381900. With the recent rash of mergers and friendly and unfriendly takeovers, two important issues have not received sufficient attention as questionable ethical practices. Ethics1 deals with the theories and principles of values and the basic perceptions and justifications of values, whereas morals2 includes the customs. The definition of business ethics thompson rivers university.
The occasional paper series 3 involves relentless debates about deontological and consequential ethics, i call universal ethics. These religious books have talked about truthfulness, transparency and honesty among people. The question is legitimate since, despite the present popularity of the term ethics, fundamentally, it is a question of morals. Evolution and ethics thomas henry huxley prolegomena.
Discuss systems of moral reasoning as they have been used throughout history. Information ethics has grown over the years as a discipline in library and information science, but the field or the phrase has evolved and been embraced by many other disciplines. Her publications include philosophical issues in art, ethical issues in business. Oxford handbook of the history of ethics, ed roger crisp.
A passage of the torah, love your neighbour as yourself was taken up by the writers of the new testament and made part of the theological centerpiece of the christian ethical stance. Definition of the term ethics is the branch of philosophy which deals with moral aspects of human behavior. These everyday uses of the terms ethics and morality are not so much incorrect by philosophical standards, as too limited. Ethics is categorized according to three types of inquiry or study. Although we will attempt to trace the history since 1960, it is appropriate to start by tracing the origins of business ethics thought over the past 100 years. A brief summary of history of ethics summarized from short history of ethics by rogers, r.
At a deeper level, however, kants entire philosophy is fundamentally historical. Outlines of the history of ethics currently unavailable. Moral education a brief history of moral education, the return of character. The work of a master in the subject, who in a few pregnant pages has sketched out skillfully and judicially the history of greek, of medieval, and of english reflections on the aims and laws of human conduct. An empirical study article pdf available in journal of business ethics 691 january 1992 with 2,031 reads how we measure reads. The prephilosophical history of good and the transition to philosophy.
Pdf ethics, as a philosophical discipline researchgate. Introduction to ethical studies pdf philosophy courses. The role of business ethics in merger and acquisition success. The cambridge world history of medical ethics the cambridge world history of medical ethics is the. Aid, origins of moral motives and of the sense of duty, and others. Evaluate a variety of ethical theories and approaches to use in personal and professional relationships. In homer, the good king is the successful king, that is, the king who is clever and. The prohibition of theft, selfinterest at the cost of others, and malice in these religious sources have a direct application the world of business. Introduction to western philosophy the ethics of war and peace1 here a couple of summaries of just war theory. Introduction to western philosophy the ethics of war and. The definition of business ethics by lynn fountain, cpa, cgma, fountain grc llc e thics has its place in nearly all professional disciplines.
It is ethics, the teaching of the fundamental principle morality. Conversely, an ethics can put the emphasis on what a person shouldn. But first a couple of important introductory questions. The known history of pure ethics or ethics moral theories begin with ancient. In the new testament jesus teaches that all the commandments of jewish religious law could be summarized in the two rules, love god and love your neighbour mark 12. Management ethics is a complex discipline and its importance is still growing.
Ethics is the systematic philosophical study of morality. Pdf moral concern with food intake is as old as morality itself. A short history of food ethics article pdf available. Introduction to ethical studies an open source reader lee archie john g. The happy man, the good man, is a virtuous man, but virtue is acquired precisely through education. She is one of the founding members of the society for business ethics. Nicomachean ethics aristotle batoche books faculty of social. Philosophy alters concepts, which may alter conduct. Evolution and ethics thomas henry huxley prolegomena 1894. The known history of pure ethics or ethics moral theories begin with ancient greek philosophers sophists, socrates, socratic schools, plato, aristotle. Moral concepts arise from and help shape human social life.
The three main branches of the philosophical study of. Whether a merger, acquisition, or takeover, the type of event is relatively unimportant, as what is studied is decision making under great stress. A history of moral philosophy from the homeric age to the twentieth century, philosophy, ethics, alasdair macintyre, virtue ethics, history of ethics, philosophy, western philosophy. Perhaps you ask yourself why we speak of ethics rather than morals. Werhane is professor of philosophy at loyola university of chicago. The companies were from different markets, each with a history of doing things a certain way. The philosophers interest in the theoretical study of ethics is with the idea of conduct thatis right, fair and just, does not cause harm, and that can be applied to a wide variety of cases. Although employees are drastically affected by a merger or an. In the course of history, however,several ways of critically examining practices of. When the mgm grand inc and mirage resorts inc merged in the mid2000s, executives on both sides had some significant ethics and compliance challenges on their hands. Morals are described by the same dictionary as being concerned with the distinction between. Read here to learn more about the history of pepsico, inc. Why we need an ethics of history writing doing history.