PHIL 3310 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Business Ethics, Moral Reasoning, Moral Relativism
22 May 2018
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Chapter I
Study Guide I-(The Nature of Morality)
1. What does the word “ethics” mean? How does “ethics” differ from
morality?
a. Ethics is the broad field of inquiry that addresses a fundamental query that
all of us from time to time inevitably think about, ‘How should I live my
life?’ Morality
2. What is Business ethics?
a. Is the study of what constitute right and wrong (or good or bad) of human
conduct in a business and organization context.
3. What is an organization?
a. Organization- A group of people working together to achieve a common
purpose.
4. Distinguish between moral and non-moral standards.
a. Moral Standard concern behavior that is of serious consequences to human
welfare, which can profoundly injure or benefit people. Non-moral
Standard have no direct consequences to human welfare, that can
profoundly injure or benefit people.
5. What is etiquette?
a. Etiquette refers to the norms of correct conduct in polite society or, more
generally, to any special code of social behavior or courtesy
6. Distinguish between morality and law.
a. The differences between morality and law are that actions can be illegal
but morally right or actions can be legal and morally wrong.
7. What are the four kinds of law and what is the function of law?
a. The function of law are rules put in place to protect basic rights. The four
kinds of law are statues, administrative regulation, common law and
constitutional law
8. What are the sources of morality in our society?
a. The sources of morality include our early upbringing the behavior of those
around us, the explicit and implicit standards of our culture, our own
experiences, and our critical reflection of those experiences.
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
1: religion provides one of the bases for morality in our society. What are some of the problems associated with the contention that morality is based on the commands of god: these problems consists of the imprecise instructions and sometime confusing, miss messaging of world religions. Also, no one knows where they will end up in terms of heaven or hell: define ethical relativism. What are some of the unpleasant implications of ethical relativism: ethical relativism is the theory that what is right is determined by what a culture or society says right. It undermines any moral criticism of the practices of other societies as long as their actions conform to their own standards. How do they help you to act ethically: moral principles are important because they then become part of the individual"s moral code. Once it becomes part of the person"s moral code. They think it is important and well justified.
