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Discourse and Tractable Morality

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Handbook of the Philosophical Foundations of Business Ethics

Abstract

When managerial decisions are examined, somehow the business context must be included in the analysis. In this chapter, causalities that transcend individuals are promoted as unit of analysis in empirical moral research, namely, discourse. Studying managerial decisions in their discursive context is an interesting way to study the moral side of these decisions. After discussing discourse theory, the conclusion is that discourse theory can help business ethics in many different ways. It is shown what a discourse description or analysis within business ethics could look like. Special attention is paid to stories and metaphors, and to the power effects of international anticorruption discourses.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    This chapter is largely based on [1–3].

  2. 2.

    I do not mean those scholars who defend the amoral model, like Von Hajek or Friedman, who believe doing business has nothing to do with ethics.

  3. 3.

    One could also consider Badarocco, trying to formulate norms on the basis of defining moments.

  4. 4.

    Facts and values are often clearly separated. Values come into play after the process of information gathering. Prescriptive ethics traditionally focus on this moment. The prevailing notion is that ethics and the non-ethical language that describes and explains situations and events belong to separate domains.

  5. 5.

    See Schermer [90] for a very interesting study on the concept of autonomy in ethical theory and hospital practice.

  6. 6.

    When managers’ decisions depend on the conviction that they should treat a person not solely as a means to an end (deontology), or the notion of promoting the greatest good for the greatest number (utilitarianism), what should they do?

  7. 7.

    This raises doubts as to the rationality of moral decisions. When we study moral decisions, we can see that they do not conform to some philosophical ethical theory.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Social Sciences, VU University Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1081, 1081 HV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Dr. Gjalt de Graaf

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  1. Dr. Gjalt de Graaf
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Correspondence to Gjalt de Graaf .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Peter Löscher-Stiftungslehrstuhl für Wirtschaftsethik, Technische Universität München, München, Germany

    Christoph Luetge

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de Graaf, G. (2013). Discourse and Tractable Morality. In: Luetge, C. (eds) Handbook of the Philosophical Foundations of Business Ethics. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1494-6_29

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1494-6_29

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