Analytical Philosophers

Analytical Philosophers vs. Continental Philosophers

• Analytical philosophers see themselves as chaotic, shallow, profound, realistic, critical about science, and not serious
• They are opposed to continental philosophers, who are seen as docile followers of science and liberalism, naive, and not serious

Business Ethics and Philosophy

• Business ethics is grounded in analytical philosophy, but the book tries to bridge the gap between continental philosophy and analytical philosophy
• The assumption is that continental philosophy can inspire business ethics with new ideas and insights

Crossings between Business and Ethics

• The is-ought fallacy: observing what is the case and thinking that it ought to be the case
• Notion of resentment: feeling jealous when others, like CEOs, earn a lot of money
• Herd instinct: uncritically following the direction of the group, with morality determined by those in power
• Contextual awareness: the way we look at excessive rewards depends on our background
• Etymology of fairness: tracing back to the idea of harmony, order, and beauty, with fairness meaning to live a beautiful or pleasing life

Critique of Universal Truth

• The "truth" is never fixed, and universal claims of truth are social manipulation
• Nietzsche's criticism of religion and its ultimate view on truth
• Need to question the "truth" on an ongoing basis

Foucault and Power Relations

• Foucault's thoughts on individual autonomy within a network of relationships and power interests
• Knowledge structures emerge that shape people's conceptions of themselves and others as a way of power interests

Freedom and Autonomy

• Everyone is entitled to improve their own situation, and there is no ethics without freedom
• Care of the self: activities that change our development and function, influencing our view of ourselves and others

Moral Conundrums

• Moral dilemma: reporting non-doing is not the only task employees have, and they are expected to be loyal as well
• Whistleblowing: internal vs. external, with the mindset and motives of the whistleblower being important
• Loyalty to the general public vs. loyalty to the organization

Sustainability

• Sustainability refers to an attitude that avoids harming the interests of future generations
• Sustainable development: a set of managerial principles to make sustainability possible
• Triple bottom line (3BL): people, planet, profit, with sustainability achieved at the point where all three dimensions are in balance

The Natural Step

• A technique to envision where businesses want to go and determine the steps to get there
• Challenges businesses to determine what must be done to arrive at a sustainable future

Business Goals and Accountability

• Businesses have more than financial goals, including social and environmental goals
• Moral duty to report performance to stakeholders
• Accountability demand is important, but it is difficult to assess whether a business is doing its best in terms of sustainability

Critique of Sustainability

• Some argue that sustainability is just another version of the stakeholder approach
• It is difficult to measure whether a business is doing its best in terms of sustainability
• Wealth maximization or environmental friendliness may be overridden by other moral duties
• Some criticize that nobody really knows what sustainability is about

Transmodern Ethics

• Human freedom is a basic value of society, with its limit being the protection of life
• Well-being of humankind must be fulfilled through free human action via cooperation and agreement
• Wealth is only a means for preserving life and providing conditions for a better existence
• Managers are at the service of the people under the principle of "the best interests of society"

Continental Philosophers on Globalization

• Michael Hardt and Anton Negri: globalization is not the problem, but big companies hijacking it are
• Slavoj Zizek: business or capitalism are not the most important factors in globalization, but rather the destructed masses in the third world