Consequences of financial crisis on ethics in business

On January 20, 2009, the European Forum held in Paris under the auspices of the OECD business ethics. Speaking at the forum were discussed substantive issues of ethics in business under current economic and financial affairs. The economic and social costs of international crisis representing, as is known, not only financial losses in 2008, but also reduced production in many countries, slowing economic growth in others, job losses and the credibility of financial markets, a resurgence of problems of polarization and social tensions. Ethics in business today requires reconfiguration of the international financial and economic systems based on schemes to ensure managerial factors stimulating and transparent. In this context, the main question which will be discussed is ‘How can we act responsibly as decision makers in a society that is increasingly unpredictable and unknown to us?’ It is well known that moral philosophers have long insisted that they can solve this problem by finding valid arguments for what is good and evil and on this basis formulate rules for responsible action. The aim of this paper is to give an argumentation for the inadequacy of the moral philosophers’ standpoint. Instead we should reflect upon the conditions themselves that declare an action to be moral.