The Anti-Egoist Perspective in Business Ethics and its Anti-Business Manifestations

Marja Svanberg; Carl F.C. Svanberg

doi:10.1007/s40926-022-00202-7

The Anti-Egoist Perspective in Business Ethics and its Anti-Business Manifestations

Marja Svanberg^*
, Carl F.C. Svanberg

^*Tämän työn vastaava kirjoittaja

Johtamisen laitos

Tutkimustuotos: Lehtiartikkeli › Article › Scientific › vertaisarvioitu

7 Sitaatiot (Scopus)

355 Lataukset (Pure)

Abstrakti

This article identifies the moral premises of contemporary business ethics. After analyzing thirty business ethics texts, the article shows that many business ethicists hold the conventional view that being moral is altruistic. This altruistic perspective logically implies a negative evaluation of self-interest and the profit motive, and business. As a result, the prevailing attitude in mainstream business ethics is that without altruistic restraints businesspeople are inclined to lie, steal, and cheat, not create and earn wealth through honest production and voluntary trade. Therefore, the central concern in current business ethics is to curb businesspeople morally, not to empower them in their self-interested desire to make money. In the final analysis, the article shows how the anti-egoist assumptions manifest themselves in a moral prejudice against business, leading to a biased, unfair, and misleading account of the business world.

Alkuperäiskieli	Englanti
Sivut	569-596
Sivumäärä	28
Julkaisu	Philosophy of Management
Vuosikerta	21
Numero	4
Varhainen verkossa julkaisun päivämäärä	8 kesäk. 2022
DOI - pysyväislinkit	https://doi.org/10.1007/s40926-022-00202-7
Tila	Julkaistu - jouluk. 2022
OKM-julkaisutyyppi	A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä

Rahoitus

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Grant/Award Number: 80NM0018D0004; National Science Foundation, Grant/Award Numbers: 1444080, 1740721; University of Southern California (USC) Funding information This work was partially funded by National Science Foundation (NSF) I‐Corps awards 1444080 and 1740721; the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under NASA contract 80NM0018D0004; and the University of Southern California (USC) Undergraduate Research Associates Program. Any opinions, findings, or recommendations expressed herein are those of the authors and do not reflect the views of the aforementioned organizations. The authors thank the NASA SBIR program for access to the data; Shweta LNU; Jonathan Eyer; the Management of INnovation, Entrepreneurial Research, and Venture Analysis (MINERVA) lab; and the anonymous reviewers for comments on earlier drafts. One author (APB) served as co‐PI and Research PI on awards acknowledged herein prior to service at NSF. To manage potential conflicts of interest she was recused from these awards at NSF and from associated roles at USC. 1

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title = "The Anti-Egoist Perspective in Business Ethics and its Anti-Business Manifestations",

abstract = "This article identifies the moral premises of contemporary business ethics. After analyzing thirty business ethics texts, the article shows that many business ethicists hold the conventional view that being moral is altruistic. This altruistic perspective logically implies a negative evaluation of self-interest and the profit motive, and business. As a result, the prevailing attitude in mainstream business ethics is that without altruistic restraints businesspeople are inclined to lie, steal, and cheat, not create and earn wealth through honest production and voluntary trade. Therefore, the central concern in current business ethics is to curb businesspeople morally, not to empower them in their self-interested desire to make money. In the final analysis, the article shows how the anti-egoist assumptions manifest themselves in a moral prejudice against business, leading to a biased, unfair, and misleading account of the business world.",

keywords = "Altruism, bias, Business ethics, Business ethics textbooks, Egoism, Profit motive",

author = "Marja Svanberg and Svanberg, \{Carl F.C.\}",

note = "Funding Information: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Grant/Award Number: 80NM0018D0004; National Science Foundation, Grant/Award Numbers: 1444080, 1740721; University of Southern California (USC) Funding information Funding Information: This work was partially funded by National Science Foundation (NSF) I‐Corps awards 1444080 and 1740721; the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under NASA contract 80NM0018D0004; and the University of Southern California (USC) Undergraduate Research Associates Program. Any opinions, findings, or recommendations expressed herein are those of the authors and do not reflect the views of the aforementioned organizations. The authors thank the NASA SBIR program for access to the data; Shweta LNU; Jonathan Eyer; the Management of INnovation, Entrepreneurial Research, and Venture Analysis (MINERVA) lab; and the anonymous reviewers for comments on earlier drafts. One author (APB) served as co‐PI and Research PI on awards acknowledged herein prior to service at NSF. To manage potential conflicts of interest she was recused from these awards at NSF and from associated roles at USC. 1 Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022, The Author(s).",

year = "2022",

month = dec,

doi = "10.1007/s40926-022-00202-7",

language = "English",

volume = "21",

pages = "569--596",

journal = "Philosophy of Management",

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AU - Svanberg, Carl F.C.

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PY - 2022/12

Y1 - 2022/12

N2 - This article identifies the moral premises of contemporary business ethics. After analyzing thirty business ethics texts, the article shows that many business ethicists hold the conventional view that being moral is altruistic. This altruistic perspective logically implies a negative evaluation of self-interest and the profit motive, and business. As a result, the prevailing attitude in mainstream business ethics is that without altruistic restraints businesspeople are inclined to lie, steal, and cheat, not create and earn wealth through honest production and voluntary trade. Therefore, the central concern in current business ethics is to curb businesspeople morally, not to empower them in their self-interested desire to make money. In the final analysis, the article shows how the anti-egoist assumptions manifest themselves in a moral prejudice against business, leading to a biased, unfair, and misleading account of the business world.

AB - This article identifies the moral premises of contemporary business ethics. After analyzing thirty business ethics texts, the article shows that many business ethicists hold the conventional view that being moral is altruistic. This altruistic perspective logically implies a negative evaluation of self-interest and the profit motive, and business. As a result, the prevailing attitude in mainstream business ethics is that without altruistic restraints businesspeople are inclined to lie, steal, and cheat, not create and earn wealth through honest production and voluntary trade. Therefore, the central concern in current business ethics is to curb businesspeople morally, not to empower them in their self-interested desire to make money. In the final analysis, the article shows how the anti-egoist assumptions manifest themselves in a moral prejudice against business, leading to a biased, unfair, and misleading account of the business world.

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KW - Egoism

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The Anti-Egoist Perspective in Business Ethics and its Anti-Business Manifestations

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