A CRITICAL SURVEY OF THE

DIFFERENT NORMATIVE
ETHICAL THEORIES COMMONLY
USED IN BUSINESS DECISION
MAKING
Learning Team 1
 Table of contents
0 The Norms of 0 Machiavellian 0 Moral Positivism
Morality Principle (Niccolo (Thomas
1 according to the
3 Machiavelli)
5 Hobbes)
scholastic
philosophy and
traditional ethics
0 0 Utilitarianism
0 Divine
Kantian Ethics
2 (Immanuel Kant) 4 6 Command Ethics

0 Virtue Ethics: 0 Pragmatism of

7 Socrates, Plato 8 Peirce, James
and Aristotle and Dewey
The Norms of Morality
According to the
Scholastic Philosophy
and Traditional Ethics
Morality refers to the set of standards that enable people to live
cooperatively in groups

The Norms of Morality

Conscience the sense or consciousness of the moral goodness

or blameworthiness of one's own conduct, intentions, or
character together with a feeling of obligation to do right or be
good.
 Types of Conscience
1. Antecedent conscience
2. Consequent conscience
3. True conscience
4. Erroneous conscience
5. Certain conscience
6. Scrupulous conscience
7. Lax conscience
Natural Law Ethics considers this as remote norm of morality.
Ethical Law Traditional Ethics considers eternal law or the
divine
law as the ultimate norm of morality.
 Kantian Ethics
(Immanuel Kant)
 Kant Moral Rationalism
Kant believes that reason is autonomous. For him is "the be all
end all" of everything. Following this line of thinking, Kant
maintained that all truths and all knowledge are derived from
human reason.

For Kant Morality is;

● A priori
● It is universal
● It is absolute
● Moral laws are immutable
 Kant Categorial Imperative
Kant was probably best known for this theory about a
single, general moral obligation that explains all other moral
obligation we have. Kant argues that since morality is the
product of reason, the obedience of this command is true and
binding because it is beyond experience.

3 Formulated Moral Duties

• Formula of Universal Law
• Formula of Humanity
• Formula of Autonomy

This theory is saying that we have universal duties, despite

one's subjective imperatives that seek to fulfill one's happiness
instead of this duties.
 Business Application
• Kant introduces the importance of humanistic dimension into
business decisions. Treat human beings not as means to an
end, because human beings have ends in objectives.
• Kant stresses the importance of motives and of acting
principles. Business decisions are based sometimes on
personal convictions and principles regardless of the
outcomes or results.
• Kant categorial imperatives give us the firm rules follow in
moral decision making rules that do not depend on
circumstances or result that do not permit individual
exceptions. No matter what the consequences may be or who
does it, some actions are always wrong.
Utilitarianism
 Utilitarianism
• considered the most important consequentialist theory.
• what makes an act right is this consequences and not the
motive of the action.

TWO MAIN PROPONENTS OF THE PRINCIPLE:

1. Jeremy Bentham - The greatest good is the greatest

pleasure of the greatest number”.

2. John Stuart Mill - The amount of happiness becomes great

if a greater number of people experience it.
Moral Positivism
 Moral positivism
is not just the denial of universal, objective and changeless
norms in the moral order. Whenever the good is reduced to
definable norms and not left in the state of a general exclusion
of the bad, there is always some change in standards.

Moral Positivism (Thomas Hobbes)

• The proponent of this theory is Thomas Hobbes
• This theory holds that the basis/source of all moral laws is
the laws of the State
• It makes morality relative
• It reverses the natural order of things.
Divine Command
Ethics
 Divine command theory
Divine command theory is the belief that things are right
because God commands them to be. In other words, it means
that things which are considered "wrong" or "unethical" are
wrong because they are forbidden by God. It is an absolutist
theory.
 Analysis of Divine Command
Theory
• Divine Command Theory states
o Morality and religion are closely related. God is the
author of the rules of morality
o God determines what is right and wrong; God tells us
what to do.
o God commands us to do what God defines as right, and
commands us to avoid doing what is defined as wrong.
• Cannot cover all possible case of moral decision.
• Assume belief in either divine beings or exemplary
individuals.
o Theists believe God exists and has given divine laws like
the Ten Commandments for humans to obey.
o Atheists deny the existence of God, believing people can
be moral apart from divine commandments.
 o Agnostics deny there is sufficient reason to believe God
exists and doubt any moral code set forth by God.
• Command theory generally have no exception clause, either
explicit or implicit.

Advantages of Divine Command Theory

• Metaphysical and objective
• God knows us best
• Takes away human responsibility
• Absolute rules
• God is inherently good
Disadvantages of Divine Command Theory
• It makes morality arbitrary
• It cannot work in a pluralistic society
• Religious pluralism
• Different belief in God

Business Application
• For Christian believers, a good action is an action that
conforms to the commandments of God as reflected in the
Bible and the teachings of the church.
• For non-Christians, a good action conforms to the teachings
of exemplary non-divine beings like the Buddha and Prophet
Mohammad.
 Virtue Ethics:
Socrates, Plato and
Aristotle
Virtue Ethics
• Virtue ethics mainly deals with the honesty and morality of a
person.
• It states that practicing good habits such as honesty,
generosity makes a moral and virtuous person.

Aristotle
• Aristotle, the founder of virtue ethics, believed that human
beings are unique in having a potential they can fulfill by
their own efforts.
• The only way to fulfill this potential, and achieve happiness,
he argued, is to acquire the virtues.
Plato
• Like most other ancient philosophers, Plato maintains a
virtue-based eudaemonistic conception of ethics. That is to
say, happiness or well-being (eudaimonia) is the highest aim
of moral thought and conduct, and the virtues (aretê:
'excellence') are the requisite skills and dispositions needed
to attain it.

Socrates
• Socrates identifies knowledge with virtue. If knowledge can
be learned, so can virtue. Thus, Socrates states virtue can be
taught. He believes “the unexamined life is not worth living.”
One must seek knowledge and wisdom before private
interests. In this manner, knowledge is sought as a means to
ethical action.
Pragmatism of Peirce,
James and Dewey
Pragmatism of Peirce, James and
Dewey
Pragmatism derived from the Greek word “pragma” which
means work, practice, action or activity.
Pragmatism is a philosophy that attempts to clarify our
ideas and to emphasize the practical usefulness of ideas and
beliefs as the criteria for truth.
Bridges the gap between empiricism and rationalism.
As a school of thought, pragmatism maintains the following
assumptions;
Be valid, all theories must be put into practice.
There must be a close connection between thinking and
acting.
Ideas to regard as true must be useful.
For ideas to be significant there must be a practical results.
 Charles Sanders Peirce
Peirce focused his pragmatism on logic and science. For him
there must be a connectivity between idea and action. He said
that our ideas are clear and distinct only when we can translate
them into some kind of meaningful action.
Peirce contends by saying that in the logical analysis of
meanings- an idea that is useful in solving difference between
two prepositions is significant. For him, if an idea is not useful in
solving problem, then it does not have any significance at all.
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