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On the Relevance of Political Philosophy to Business Ethics

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  • Moriarty, Jeffrey

Abstract

The central problems of political philosophy (e.g., legitimate authority, distributive justice) mirror the central problems of business ethics. The question naturally arises: should political theories be applied to problems in business ethics? If a version of egalitarianism is the correct theory of justice for states, for example, does it follow that it is the correct theory of justice for businesses? If states should be democratically governed by their citizens, should businesses be democratically managed by their employees? Most theorists who have considered these questions, including John Rawls in Political Liberalism, and Robert Phillips and Joshua Margolis in a 1999 article, have said “no.†They claim that states and businesses are different kinds of entities, and hence require different theories of justice. I challenge this claim. While businesses differ from states, the difference is one of degree, not one of kind. Business ethics has much to learn from political philosophy.

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  • Moriarty, Jeffrey, 2005. "On the Relevance of Political Philosophy to Business Ethics," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 15(3), pages 455-473, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:buetqu:v:15:y:2005:i:03:p:455-473_01
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Jeffrey Moriarty, 2007. "McMahon on Workplace Democracy," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 71(4), pages 339-345, April.
    2. Lars Lindblom, 2011. "The Structure of a Rawlsian Theory of Just Work," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 101(4), pages 577-599, July.
    3. Christoph Luetge & Thomas Armbrüster & Julian Müller, 2016. "Order Ethics: Bridging the Gap Between Contractarianism and Business Ethics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 136(4), pages 687-697, July.
    4. George G. Brenkert, 2019. "Mind the Gap! The Challenges and Limits of (Global) Business Ethics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 155(4), pages 917-930, April.
    5. Pasi Heikkurinen & Jukka Mäkinen, 2018. "Synthesising Corporate Responsibility on Organisational and Societal Levels of Analysis: An Integrative Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 149(3), pages 589-607, May.
    6. Samir Shrivastava & Robert Jones & Christopher Selvarajah & Bernadine Gramberg, 2016. "Organisational Justice: A Senian Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 135(1), pages 99-116, April.
    7. George Gotsis & Zoe Kortezi, 2010. "Ethical Considerations in Organizational Politics: Expanding the Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 93(4), pages 497-517, June.
    8. Victor Oltra & Jaime Bonache & Chris Brewster, 2013. "A New Framework for Understanding Inequalities Between Expatriates and Host Country Nationals," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 115(2), pages 291-310, June.
    9. Michael Schwartz, 2008. "Some Thoughts on Moriarty and Moeller," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 78(1), pages 25-38, March.
    10. Alexei M. Marcoux, 2006. "The Concept of Business in Business Ethics," Journal of Private Enterprise, The Association of Private Enterprise Education, vol. 22(Spring 20), pages 50-67.
    11. Åsbjørn Melkevik, 2019. "A Theory of Business Eunomics: The Means–Ends Relation in Business Ethics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 160(1), pages 293-305, November.
    12. Pierre-Yves Néron, 2010. "Business and the Polis: What Does it Mean to See Corporations as Political Actors?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 94(3), pages 333-352, July.

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