Wealth, Commerce, and Philosophy
Foundational Thinkers and Business Ethics
9780226443850
9780226443713
9780226443997
Wealth, Commerce, and Philosophy
Foundational Thinkers and Business Ethics
The moral dimensions of how we conduct business affect all of our lives in ways big and small, from the prevention of environmental devastation to the policing of unfair trading practices, from arguments over minimum wage rates to those over how government contracts are handed out. Yet for as deep and complex a field as business ethics is, it has remained relatively isolated from the larger, global history of moral philosophy. This book aims to bridge that gap, reaching deep into the past and traveling the globe to reinvigorate and deepen the basis of business ethics.
Spanning the history of western philosophy as well as looking toward classical Chinese thought and medieval Islamic philosophy, this volume provides business ethicists a unified source of clear, accurate, and compelling accounts of how the ideas of foundational thinkers—from Aristotle to Friedrich Hayek to Amartya Sen—relate to wealth, commerce, and markets. The essays illuminate perspectives that have often been ignored or forgotten, informing discussion in fresh and often unexpected ways. In doing so, the authors not only throw into relief common misunderstandings and misappropriations often endemic to business ethics but also set forth rich moments of contention as well as novel ways of approaching complex ethical problems. Ultimately, this volume provides a bedrock of moral thought that will move business ethics beyond the ever-changing opinions of headline-driven debate.
Spanning the history of western philosophy as well as looking toward classical Chinese thought and medieval Islamic philosophy, this volume provides business ethicists a unified source of clear, accurate, and compelling accounts of how the ideas of foundational thinkers—from Aristotle to Friedrich Hayek to Amartya Sen—relate to wealth, commerce, and markets. The essays illuminate perspectives that have often been ignored or forgotten, informing discussion in fresh and often unexpected ways. In doing so, the authors not only throw into relief common misunderstandings and misappropriations often endemic to business ethics but also set forth rich moments of contention as well as novel ways of approaching complex ethical problems. Ultimately, this volume provides a bedrock of moral thought that will move business ethics beyond the ever-changing opinions of headline-driven debate.
464 pages | 7 x 10 | © 2017
Economics and Business: Economics--General Theory and Principles, Economics--History
Philosophy: Ethics, General Philosophy, History and Classic Works
Reviews
Table of Contents
Foreword: “While Conforming to . . . Law and . . . Ethical Custom”: How to Do Humanomics in Business Ethics
Deirdre N. McCloskey
Deirdre N. McCloskey
Introduction
Eugene Heath and Byron Kaldis
1 Wealth and Commerce in Archaic Greece: Homer and HesiodMark S. Peacock
2 Aristotle and Business: Friend or Foe?Fred D. Miller, Jr.
3 Confucian Business Ethics: Possibilities and ChallengesDavid Elstein and Qing Tian
4 The Earthly City and the Ethics of Exchange: Spiritual, Social, and Material Economy in Augustine’s Theological AnthropologyTodd Breyfogle
5 Thomas Aquinas: The Economy at the Service of Justice and the Common GoodMartin Schlag
6 The Ethics of Commerce in Islam: Ibn Khaldun’s Muqaddimah RevisitedMunir Quddus and Salim Rashid
7 Hobbes’s Idea of Moral Conduct in a Society of Free IndividualsTimothy Fuller
8 John Locke’s Defense of Commercial Society: Individual Rights, Voluntary Cooperation, and Mutual GainEric Mack
9 As Free for Acorns as for Honesty: Mandevillean Maxims for the Ethics of CommerceEugene Heath
10 “Commerce Cures Destructive Prejudices”: Montesquieu and the Spirit of Commercial SocietyHenry C. Clark
11 Hume on Commerce, Society, and EthicsChristopher J. Berry
12 The Fortune of Others: Adam Smith and the Beauty of CommerceDouglas J. Den Uyl
13 Why Kant’s Insistence on Purity of the Will Does Not Preclude an Application of Kant’s Ethics to For-Profit BusinessesNorman Bowie
14 Tocqueville: The Corporation as an Ethical AssociationAlan S. Kahan
15 J. S. Mill and Business EthicsNicholas Capaldi
16 Karl Marx on History, Capitalism, and . . . Business Ethics?William H. Shaw
17 Friedrich Hayek’s Defense of the Market OrderKaren I. Vaughn
18 The Power and the Limits of Milton Friedman’s Arguments against Corporate Social ResponsibilityAlexei Marcoux
19 Beyond the Difference Principle: Rawlsian Justice, Business Ethics, and the Morality of the MarketMatt Zwolinski
20 Commitments and Corporate Responsibility: Amartya Sen on Motivations to Do GoodAnn E. Cudd
Contributors
Index