Axiology and Business Ethics

Synonyms

Extrinsic goods; Good businesses; Intrinsic goods; Systemic goods; Value judgments and feelings in business; Value rankings in business; Value standards in business

Introduction

Businesspersons understand that there are many kinds of goodness in addition to moral goodness – good workers, good managers, good products, good services, good training, and good profits. But what does “good” mean? The best available answer was formulated by Robert S. Hartman (1910–1973), who created formal axiology. Axiology is value theory. This includes ethics, aesthetics, logic, and every discipline having ideal norms or standards. Formal axiology focuses on formal patterns of value and evaluation and then applies them to the concrete particulars of what we value (values) and how we value (evaluations). The headings below identify its main features, all highly relevant to the business world.

Formal Definitions of “Good,” “Better,” “Best,” and “Ought”

Formal axiology says that anything is “good” if...