BUSINESS ETHICS AND

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
MODULE 5
 “Values are
caught and not
 “Ethics may not
be teachable in
the same way as
astronomy or
psychology, but it
FOUNDATIONS
OF PRINCIPLES
OF BUSINES
ETHICS
“Educating the mind
without educating
the heart is no
education at all.”
CLASSICAL
PHILOSOPHI
ES
 Business Ethics as an applied branch

of general ethics must be studied from

the perspective of philosophy. This is

because ethics is a part of moral

principles, you will not know ethics

without being philosophical.

 Ethics and Philosophy
Philosophy, etymologically came from

two Greek words philos, which means

love and sophia, means wisdom. (Love of

Wisdom). Hence, a philosopher is one

who loves wisdom.

 As a science, philosophy is interested with

the meaning of reality including our human

experiences. It is a science that seeks to

explain the ultimate cause of everything by

the use of human reason alone.

 Ethics is philosophical science that

studies the morality of human act. As a

science, Ethics is concerned with the

analysis of the nature of the human

conduct from the point of view of morality.

 ETHICAL
FOUNDATIONS
OF BUSINES
ETHICS
 Consequentialism
In moral philosophy, the term

“consequentialism” refers to an approach

in moral decision making wherein the prime

consideration is the effect or consequence

of an action or a decision.
 For the consequentialist, an action is morally

acceptable if leads to some desirable

consequences.

The rightness or wrongness of an action can

be established by reference to its consequences.

 Ethical Egoism
It is founded on psychological egoism.

“Psychological egoism is the doctrine that

everyone is motivated to look after his or

her own perceived best interest.”

 It describes human nature as

basically selfish, self- interested, and self-

centered. It assumes that people never

act except with a personal benefit in

sight whether or not they admit it.

 For the ethical egoist, a good

act is one that produces a good

consequence for the individual

who performs the act.

 Utilitarianism
The renowned proponents of

modern utilitarianism are the English

philosophers Jeremy Bentham and John

Stuart Mill.
 Utilitarianism
Bentham’s version is now

commonly known as act utilitarianism

while that of Mill is rule utilitarianism.

 Utilitarianism
Like ethical egoism, it is also a

consequentialist approach to ethical

decision making.
 Utilitarianism
The utilitarian’s main concern is not

individual interest. The utilitarian looks for

the one that has good consequences or

benefits, for the most number of affected

people.
 Its principle of justice may be

stated as: “everybody to count for

one, nobody to count for more

than one.”
 Virtue Ethics
Virtue is a sort of knowledge (the

knowledge of good and evil) that is

required to reach the ultimate good, or

eudaimonia, which is what all humans

desires and actions aim to achieve.

 Four Cardinal Virtues
1. Prudence

Prudence is the virtue that disposes practical

reason to discern our true good in every

circumstance and to choose the right means of

achieving it; "the prudent man looks where he is

going."
 Four Cardinal Virtues
2. Justice

Justice is the moral virtue that consists in

the constant and firm will to give their due to

God and neighbor.

 Four Cardinal Virtues
3. Fortitude

Fortitude is the moral virtue that ensures

firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit

of the good. It strengthens the resolve to resist

temptations and to overcome obstacles in the moral

life.
 Four Cardinal Virtues
4. Temperance

Temperance is the moral virtue that

moderates the attraction of pleasures and

provides balance in the use of created goods.

 The Two Contradictory
Principles
1. Man believes that there are certain things that

he should not do to anyone.

2. Man believes that values are subjective and

incapable of being disputed.

 Divisions of Philosophy
1. Theoretical Philosophy – studies the truth to

be known, e.g., God, immortality of the soul,

origin of the universe.

2. Practical Philosophy – studies truths to be

acted upon, e.g., ethics, axiology, semantics,

 Ethics and Morality
• Morality - refers to the quality of goodness or

badness in a human act. Good is described as

moral and bad as immoral. It means conformity to

the rules of right conduct.

• Ethics - refer to the formal study of those

standards and conduct. It is also often called

 Ethics as a Normative
Science
Ethics is considered a Normative Science because it

is concerned with the systematic study of the norms of

human conduct, as distinguished from formal sciences

such as Mathematics, chemistry physics etc. Ethics is a

normative science because it involves a systematic

search for moral principles and norms that are justify our
 Ethical Relativism
Ethical relativism claims that when any two

cultures or any people hold different moral values of

an action, both can be right. An action may be right

for one person or society and the same action taken

in the same way may be wrong for another reason,

and yet, both persons are equally correct.

Approaches to
Moral
Differences
 There is no Moral Truth
There is no ultimate right or wrong. Moral

views differ from one person to another. This

results to a subjective morality, in which case,

what is good for one person may be bad for

another.
 There is no Universal
Truth
Each culture has its own set of rules that are valid

for that culture, and we have no right to interfere, just

as they have no right to interfere with our rules. This

ethical paradigm maintains that there are moral truths

that exist, but these truths are relative and dependent

on cultures and beliefs of people.

 Deep down, we can find
basic Moral Truth
Despite differences, people of different

cultures can still agree on a certain moral basics.

There is some common ground on basic moral

principles. This is called “Soft Universalism”

 There is one Universal
Moral Truth
This view is also known as hard universalism or moral

absolutism. This moral paradigm maintains that there is

only one universal moral code that everybody must follow.

Because this moral code is universal and objective, moral

problems, and moral conflicts can be solved through proper

moral reasoning.
DEONTOLOGICAL VS.
TELEOLOGICAL
APPROACHES TO
ETHICAL EVALUATION
OF THE HUMAN
CONDUCT
 Deontological Ethics
It is also known as non-consequentialist approach

is a body of ethical theories that measures and

evaluates the nature of a moral act based on the

validity of the motive of an act. This means that if the

motive or intention of the act is good, then regardless

of the consequences, the whole action is good.

 Teleological Ethics
It came from the Greek word “tele” which means

far or remote. It is also known as consequentialist

theory measures the morality of an action based on its

consequences and not on the motive or intention of the

actor. If the consequence is good, regardless of what

motive is, the act is always morally good.

 Immanuel Kant’s
Deontological Ethics
A human act must be founded on

reason. He emphasizes the difference

between acting out of moral duty and

acting in conformity with a moral duty.

MORAL SENSE
IN US
 Moral Sense
The main difference between man and

animal is that man has a moral perception.

Man has a natural insight to morality, this

being a gift of the Creator who gave man a

“Moral Sense.”
 “What is important here is the
acceptance that the decision is never
completed, or done with, when a certain
course of action has been chosen. A decision
is always something that has to be pondered
over time. It challenges us to an ongoing
process of questioning, wondering whether
THANK
YOU