Contemporary Reflections on Business Ethics

Preface to the Second Edition
Introduction to the First Edition
Acknowledgments
Contents
Part I: Introduction
Chapter 1: The Why’s of Business Revisited
Chapter 2: Business Ethics: Oxymoron or Good Business?
2.1 Business Ethics as Oxymoron
2.2 Business as Pursuit of Self-Interest: The Bottom-Line Perspective
2.3 Countering the Friedman Approach to Ethical Business
2.4 Ethics as a Prerequisite for Social Stability
2.5 Ethics as a Strategy for Good (i.e., Profitable) Business
2.6 The Purpose of Ethics
2.7 Two Notions of Justice
2.8 A Moral Schizophrenia
2.9 The Soulless Corporation
2.10 On Refurbishing Business Ethics
2.11 Is Business Ethics Impossible?
Chapter 3: Revisiting the Egoism Question in Business
3.1 The Critique of the Egoistic Paradigm
3.2 Ethical Egoism
3.3 The Kantian Turn
3.4 The Strategic Argument
3.5 The First Categorical Imperative
3.6 The Second Categorical Imperative
3.7 Conclusion
References
Chapter 4: How Losing Soul Leads to Ethical Corruption in Business
4.1 The Promise Making Animal
4.2 Worthwhile Goals
4.3 Cause of the Loss of Soul
4.4 Enron as an Example
4.5 Qwest SWAPS
4.6 How Did We Get Here? The Origin of Capitalism and Its Ethic
4.7 Ethics Is Taught
4.8 What Is The Purpose of Business?
4.9 The Professions
4.10 Arthur Andersen’s Failure
Chapter 5: What’s the Point of a Business Ethics Course?
5.1 Skepticism as a Pervasive Attitude
5.2 Relativism as Skepticism
5.3 Critiques of Relativism
5.4 The Possibility of Moral Knowledge
5.5 Implications for Teaching Business Ethics Courses
5.6 Is There a Solution?
5.7 What Ethics Courses Need to Add to Common Opinion
5.8 A Final Difficulty: “Who Are You to Say?” Teaching One’s Values
5.9 Conclusion
Bibliography
Part II: Introduction
Reference
Chapter 6: The Religious Roots of Business Ethics
6.1 Meaning of Spirit
6.2 The History of the Right to Property
6.3 Locke’s Theory
6.4 The Invention of Money
6.5 Putting Money to Work
6.6 A Changing View of Usury
6.7 A New View of Man
6.8 The Protection Against Unconstrained Egoism
6.9 The Laws of Justice Smith’s Appeal Fails
6.10 Justice, Capitalism, and Religion
6.11 Turning Psychological Impulse into a Social Function Versus Aims
6.12 A New Ideal Type
6.13 Recommendations
6.14 Can Rawls’ View Be Justified?
Chapter 7: Aristotle: A Pre-modern Post-modern? Implications for Business Ethics
7.1 Postmodernism
7.2 The Aristotelian Solution
7.3 Conclusion
Chapter 8: Rhetoric and Egoism in Aristotle’s Ethics
8.1 Aristotle’s Moderate Approach to Ethical Argument
8.1.1 Argument By Example
8.1.2 Argument by Enthymeme
8.1.3 Ethical Discourse Like Aesthetic Critique
8.1.4 Agreements in Forms of Life
8.1.5 Capitalism and Self-Interest
8.2 The True Egoist
8.3 Conclusion
Chapter 9: Why Business Ethics Needs Rhetoric: An Aristotelian Perspective
9.1 Conclusion
Chapter 10: Patricia Werhane and Adam Smith, with Side Comments on Aesthetics and Wittgenstein
10.1 True Egoism
10.2 The Division of Labor
10.3 Ethical Discourse Like Aesthetic Critique
10.3.1 Pat’s Moral Imagination
10.3.2 Agreements in Forms of Life
References
Chapter 11: What’s Literature to Ethics or Ethics to Literature? With Reflections on Business Ethics
11.1 One Can Always Learn from Literature
References
Part III: Introduction
Chapter 12: Employee Rights
12.1 Employee Rights
12.1.1 The Right to Meaningful Work
12.1.2 The Rights of the Employee
The Right to a Safe and Healthy Work Environment
The Right to Job Security and Due Process in Disciplining, Demoting, Promoting, and Firing
The Right to Privacy
The Right to Compensation for Injury
The Right to Participation or Voice in Matters Affecting Workers
The Right to Equal Treatment Without Regard to Race or Gender
The Right to Pension Protection
The Right to Organization Bargaining and the Right to Strike
The Right to Be Free from Harassment
The Right to a Living Wage
References
Chapter 13: Whistleblowing and Employee Loyalty
Part IV: Introduction
Chapter 14: The Responsibilities of Accountants
14.1 The Responsibilities of The Accounting Firm
14.2 The Skeptical Watchdog
14.3 Causes of Ethical Failure
14.4 Accumulation as a Factor in Accounting Firms
14.5 Conclusion
Chapter 15: Ethics in Financial Services: Systems and Individuals
15.1 Introduction
15.2 The Purpose of Financial Markets
15.3 Losing Sight of the Purpose of Financial Markets
15.4 What Is Corruption?
15.5 Is Greed a Factor in the Corruption?
15.6 Tying It All Together
15.7 Financial Services Professionals
15.8 Basic Ethical Principles: A Call to Reexamine Purpose
Chapter 16: The Corruption of Financial Markets: Systemic Inevitability or Aberration?
Part V: Introduction
Chapter 17: Unethical Behavioral Finance: Why Good People Do Bad Things
17.1 Weakness of Will
17.2 Ignorance
17.3 Slippery Slope
17.4 Arrogance
17.5 Rationalization
17.6 Docility
17.7 Conclusion
Chapter 18: Harry Potter, 9/11, and Enron: Implications for Financial Service Professionals
Chapter 19: Whose Life Insurance Is It, Anyway?
Chapter 20: Divorcing Your Client Financial Services Style
Chapter 21: On the “Rights” to Health Care and Health Insurance
21.1 The Right to Health Care
21.2 The Right to Health Insurance
Chapter 22: The Dark Side of Retirement
22.1 The Modern Notion of Retirement
22.2 Aristotle, Wealth, and Retirement
22.3 Lifeboat Ethics in Retirement
Chapter 23: Shakespeare’s King Lear: Looking for an Estate Planner
Chapter 24: Managing for an Ethical Culture: What to Do with Tom?
Chapter 25: Blowing the Whistle on Fellow Professionals
Chapter 26: Being Real About the Ethics of the Fiduciary: What’s Wrong with Self-Interest?
Chapter 27: What’s the Wealth in Wealth Management?
Epilogue
Biography: Ronald Duska