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The Moral Psychology of Business: Care and Compassion in the Corporation

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  • Solomon, Robert C.

Abstract

The virtue of moral psychology is that it emphasizes what is most human in business, as opposed to the more bloodless concepts of “obligation,†“duty,†“responsibility†and rights.†The heart of moral psychology is to be found in such concrete phenomena as fear, love, affection, antipathy, loyalty, jealousy, anger, resentment, avarice, ambition, pride, and cowardice. In this essay, I want to explore two of the core virtues of the corporation, conceived of as a community, the “sentiments†of care and compassion. These were taken to be the very core of ethics by Adam Smith. I want to distinguish care and compassion from each other and both from the more principled and rule-bound conceptions of ethics that still dominate philosophy.

Suggested Citation

  • Solomon, Robert C., 1998. "The Moral Psychology of Business: Care and Compassion in the Corporation," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 8(3), pages 515-533, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:buetqu:v:8:y:1998:i:03:p:515-533_00
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    Cited by:

    1. Per Sandin, 2009. "Approaches to Ethics for Corporate Crisis Management," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 87(1), pages 109-116, June.
    2. Kevin T. Jackson, 2018. "Interpreting the Virtues of Mindfulness and Compassion: Contemplative Practices and Virtue-Oriented Business Ethics," Humanistic Management Journal, Springer, vol. 3(1), pages 47-69, July.
    3. Alan Singer, 2010. "Integrating Ethics and Strategy: A Pragmatic Approach," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 92(4), pages 479-491, April.
    4. Marina Balboa & Germán López-Espinosa & Antonio Rubia, 2012. "Non-linear Dynamics in Discretionary Accruals: An Analysis of Bank Loan-Loss Provisions," Faculty Working Papers 07/12, School of Economics and Business Administration, University of Navarra.
    5. Muel Kaptein, 2022. "The Moral Duty to Love One’s Stakeholders," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 180(2), pages 813-827, October.
    6. Pascal Paillé & Jorge Humberto Mejía-Morelos & Anne Marché-Paillé & Chih Chieh Chen & Yang Chen, 2016. "Corporate Greening, Exchange Process Among Co-workers, and Ethics of Care: An Empirical Study on the Determinants of Pro-environmental Behaviors at Coworkers-Level," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 136(3), pages 655-673, July.
    7. Leslie E. Sekerka & Derek Stimel, 2024. "Ethics from the Start: Embracing Professional Moral Courage in Entrepreneurial Decision-Making," Business & Entrepreneurship Journal, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 13(1), pages 1-1.
    8. Simpson, Ace Volkmann & Cunha, Miguel Pina e & Clegg, Stewart, 2015. "Hybridity, sociomateriality and compassion: What happens when a river floods and a city's organizations respond?," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 375-386.
    9. Sandrine Frémeaux, 2020. "A Common Good Perspective on Diversity," Post-Print hal-03232779, HAL.
    10. Cohen, Adam & Peachey, Jon Welty, 2015. "The making of a social entrepreneur: From participant to cause champion within a sport-for-development context," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 111-125.
    11. Leslie Sekerka & Richard Bagozzi & Richard Charnigo, 2009. "Facing Ethical Challenges in the Workplace: Conceptualizing and Measuring Professional Moral Courage," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 89(4), pages 565-579, November.
    12. Vicente Moreno-Casas & Philipp Bagus, 2021. "The ethics of care and the tragedy of the commons," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 68(4), pages 405-422, December.
    13. Ravinder Jit & C. S. Sharma & Mona Kawatra, 2017. "Healing a Broken Spirit: Role of Servant Leadership," Vikalpa: The Journal for Decision Makers, , vol. 42(2), pages 80-94, June.
    14. Hongguo Wei & Yunxia Zhu & Shaobing Li, 2016. "Top executive leaders’ compassionate actions: An integrative framework of compassion incorporating a confucian perspective," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 33(3), pages 767-787, September.
    15. Anne Sebastian & Matthias P. Hühn, 2024. "Sustainable Leadership and Hegelian Self-Awareness," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-15, January.
    16. Pascal Paillé & Jorge H. Mejía Morelos & Nicolas Raineri & Florence Stinglhamber, 2019. "The Influence of the Immediate Manager on the Avoidance of Non-green Behaviors in the Workplace: A Three-Wave Moderated-Mediation Model," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 155(3), pages 723-740, March.
    17. Hiren Chandra Mahonta & Tarannum Islam, 2020. "Factors Affecting the Service Taker’s Satisfaction towards the Service Quality of Banks: A survey of clients in the northern region of Bangladesh," International Journal of Science and Business, IJSAB International, vol. 4(8), pages 1-12.
    18. Ace Simpson & Miguel Pina e Cunha & Arménio Rego, 2015. "Compassion in the Context of Capitalistic Organizations: Evidence from the 2011 Brisbane Floods," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 130(3), pages 683-703, September.
    19. Latha Poonamallee & Simy Joy, 2022. "Rousing Collective Compassion at Societal Level: Lessons from Newspaper Reports on Asian Tsunami in India," IIM Kozhikode Society & Management Review, , vol. 11(1), pages 25-46, January.
    20. Yunxia Zhu, 2015. "The Role of Qing (Positive Emotions) and Li 1 (Rationality) in Chinese Entrepreneurial Decision Making: A Confucian Ren-Yi Wisdom Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 126(4), pages 613-630, February.
    21. Latha Poonamallee & Simy Joy, 2019. "Key Elements Of Compassion Rousing Communication: Lessonsfrom Media Reports On Asian Tsunami In India," Working papers 350, Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode.
    22. Carlos Ferreira Peralta & Maria Francisca Saldanha & Paulo Nuno Lopes & Paulo Renato Lourenço & Leonor Pais, 2021. "Does Supervisor’s Moral Courage to Go Beyond Compliance Have a Role in the Relationships Between Teamwork Quality, Team Creativity, and Team Idea Implementation?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 168(4), pages 677-696, February.

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