Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Aristotle and Business: An Inescapable Tension

  • Reference work entry
Book cover Handbook of the Philosophical Foundations of Business Ethics

Abstract

This chapter attempts to assess the availability of Aristotle to the field of business ethics. It does so by reviewing some of the scholarly work which has dealt with this possibility against the backdrop of certain key themes in Aristotle’s thought. The chapter begins by first outlining the controversial nature of the claim that Aristotle is integral to the business ethics field. It then explains how such controversy is only natural given what Aristotle has to say about the relationship of wealth acquisition to the natural ends of man. The chapter goes through the arguments made by various scholars, some of whom seek to bring Aristotle to the business ethics table, and others who do not feel he deserves an invitation, while attempting to place the debate in the context of Aristotle’s radical “communitarianism” on the one hand and his radical “individualism” on the other. This is the obvious procedure because Aristotle maintains at one and the same time that the individual both belongs “body and soul” to the civic community and yet is able with the aid of philosophy to transcend the horizon of that community completely. Hence, it is that Aristotle is difficult to adjust to any moral context where the individual is in a middle state of being both in possession of certain rights against the community, and yet under certain social obligations to that community as part of an exchange for the sake of individual freedom. Aristotle’s paradoxical communitarian-individualism or individualist-communitarianism is difficult to “privatize” to the level of an independent, profit-seeking commercial organization and also to “socialize” to the level of simple concern with the general welfare as distinguished from the individual pursuit of transcendence made possible by philosophic contemplation.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Financial Post, Sunday, Nov 14, 2010. http://www.financialpost.com/Ready+compete/3828781/story.html.

  2. 2.

    Simon [2]. Cited in [3].

  3. 3.

    Boatright [4]. The literature on virtue ethics in general and Aristotelian ethics in particular has been growing exponentially in recent years. Consider the following: [5–13].

  4. 4.

    See [14].

  5. 5.

    Solomon [15]. See [16].

  6. 6.

    Solomon ([15], p. 322). See [17].

  7. 7.

    See [18].

  8. 8.

    Edwin M. Hartman identifies Alasdair MacIntyre as the most formidable contemporary “Aristotelian.” See ([16], p. 7; p. 14).

  9. 9.

    Solomon ([15], p. 323). See [18].

  10. 10.

    Solomon ([15], p. 323). See [19].

  11. 11.

    For Heidegger Bodenstandigkeit is a precondition for the development of Eigentlichkeit or virtue defined as “authenticity.” See [20]; See also [21].

  12. 12.

    Lewis ([22], p. 77). Compare [23].

  13. 13.

    Lewis ([22], p. 86). Compare [24].

  14. 14.

    Lewis ([22], p. 86). Compare [25].

  15. 15.

    Buchanan (26, p. 6). Edwin M. Hartman notes that the “Aristotelian” Alasdair MacIntyre “mocks the pretensions of social science and the pseudo-ethics that it encourages in business people” [16], p. 6.

  16. 16.

    See Salkever [27].

  17. 17.

    Buchanan ([26], p. 94). Compare [29].

  18. 18.

    See Alexis de Tocqueville [30].

  19. 19.

    Collins ([28], p. 571). See [32].

  20. 20.

    This is an unclear point in Kavaliauskas discussion. To say the least Aristotle’s “individual” who discovers philosophical virtue is the product of a great deal of luck and endless years of training and education perhaps commenced by some “Socrates” or other. See ([18], p. 265).

  21. 21.

    See Arendt [34].

  22. 22.

    McKeon [36]. “The activity of reason which is contemplative (nous)… will be the complete happiness (eudaimonia) of man.” “Nicomachean Ethics” 1177b24–25; The J.A.K. Thompson translation reads: “The activity of our intelligence (nous)..will be the perfect happiness (eudaimonia) for man.” (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 2004), p. 272.

  23. 23.

    See Bernard Mandeville [37], Stirner [38], Rand [39], Friedman [40].

  24. 24.

    See Bragues [41].

  25. 25.

    Compare ([31], p. 1337a22–23) and [42].

  26. 26.

    Lomax ([18], p. 265). See Lomax ([18], pp. 266–267).

  27. 27.

    Aristotle [31, 43]. See Strauss [44, 45].

  28. 28.

    Solomon ([15], pp. 317–319). See Wood [46].

  29. 29.

    Allen Buchanan observes that the Business School Faculty who teach the rising generation of business graduates “for the most part, are trained in the Social Sciences.” [26].

  30. 30.

    Christina Hoff Summers [47]. Edwin M. Hartman agrees here: “We learn through experience, and we may look to the insights of literature, including religious literature, to distill that experience and improve our moral imagination” ([16], p. 14).

  31. 31.

    Christina Hoff Summers [47]. See Bragues ([24], p. 355).

  32. 32.

    Dierksmeier and Pirson speak of business enterprises being “democratic, inclusive, open, transparent, accountable, effective, efficient, cooperative and holistic.” “Oikonomia Versus Chrematistike etc.,” p. 428.

  33. 33.

    Stevens (1879–1955) became Vice-President of the Hartford Accident and Indemnity Company. T.S. Eliot (1888–1965) held a position at Lloyds Bank in London from 1917 to 1925.

  34. 34.

    Pantes anthropoi tou eidenai oregontai phusei Metaphysics, I.980a21. http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/metaphysics.html.

References

  1. Financial Post, Sunday, Nov 14, 2010. http://www.financialpost.com/Ready+compete/3828781/story.html

  2. Simon HA (1958) The Decision-Making Schema: A Reply. Public Adm Rev Winter:63

    Google Scholar 

  3. Storing HJ (1962) The science of administration: Herbert A Simon. In: Storing HJ (ed) Essays on the scientific study of politics. Holt, Rinehart & Winston, New York, p 215

    Google Scholar 

  4. Boatright JR (1995) Aristotle meets Wall Street: the case for virtue ethics in business. Bus Ethics Quart 5(2):205–206

    Google Scholar 

  5. MacIntyre A (1984) After virtue: a study in moral theory. University of Notre Dame Press, Notre Dame

    Google Scholar 

  6. Rorty AO (ed) (1981) Essays on Aristotle’s ethics. University of California Press, Berkeley

    Google Scholar 

  7. Kraut R (1991) Aristotle on the human good. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  8. Simpson PP (1998) A philosophical commentary on the politics of Aristotle. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill

    Google Scholar 

  9. Bates C (2003) Aristotle’s “best regime”. Louisiana State University Press, Baton Rouge

    Google Scholar 

  10. Bodeus R (1993) The political dimensions of Aristotle’s ethics. State University of New York Press, Albany

    Google Scholar 

  11. Swanson JA (1992) The public and the private in Aristotle’s political philosophy. Cornell University Press, Ithaca

    Google Scholar 

  12. Tessitore A (1996) Reading Aristotle’s ethics. State University of New York Press, Albany

    Google Scholar 

  13. Yack B (1993) The problems of a political animal. University of California Press, Berkeley

    Google Scholar 

  14. Kristol I (1979) Two cheers for capitalism. Signet, New York

    Google Scholar 

  15. Solomon RC (1992) Corporate roles, personal virtues: an Aristotelean approach to business ethics. Bus Ethics Quart 2(3):322–323

    Google Scholar 

  16. Hartman EM (2011) Virtue, profit, and the separation thesis: an Aristotelian view. J Bus Ethics 99:131

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Simpson PP (1992) On virtue ethics in Aristotle. Rev Metaphys 45:524

    Google Scholar 

  18. Lomax JH (1982) “Economics or political philosophy: which should prevail in public policy?”. Interpretation 10:2–3, p. 266

    Google Scholar 

  19. Strauss L (1959) What is political philosophy? University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp 235–240, p. 260

    Google Scholar 

  20. Heidegger M (1962) Being and time (trans: Macquarrie J, Robinson E). Harper & Row, New York/Evanston, I, 5, sec. 42

    Google Scholar 

  21. Potter A (2010) The authenticity hoax. HarperCollins, New York

    Google Scholar 

  22. Lewis TJ (1978) Acquisition and anxiety: Aristotle’s case against the market. Can J Econ 11(1):70–86

    Google Scholar 

  23. Dierksmeier C, Pirson M (2009) Oikonomia versus Chrematistike: learning from Aristotle about the future orientation of business management. J Bus Ethics 88:424

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Bragues G (2006) Seek the good life not money: the Aristotelian approach to business ethics. J Bus Ethics 67(4):356 n6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Madison J (2011) Federalist 10. http://www.constitution.org/fed/federa10.htm

  26. Buchanan A (1994) Book review Robert C Solomon, Ethics and excellence: cooperation and integrity in business. J Bus Ethics 13:124

    Google Scholar 

  27. Salkever SG (1980) ‘Cool reflexion’ and the criticism of values: is, ought, and objectivity in hume’s social science. Am Political Sci Rev 74(1):70

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Collins D (1987) Aristotle and business. J Bus Ethics 6:568

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Mill JS (1966) Address at St. Andrew’s. In: Robson JM (ed) John Stuart Mill: a selection of his works. Macmillan of Canada, Toronto, p 389

    Google Scholar 

  30. de Tocqueville A (1997) Democracy in America, Book I, Chapter V. http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/DETOC/1_ch05.htm

  31. Aristotle (1985) Politics (trans: Lord C). University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London 1323a14

    Google Scholar 

  32. Ambler WH (1984) Aristotle on acquisition. Can J Political Sci 17(3):502, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3227604

    Google Scholar 

  33. Kavaliauskas T (2010) The breakaway of business ethics from Aristotle’s virtue ethics. http://www.eben.gr/site/Papers/Tomas_Kavaliauskas%20The%20Breakaway%20of%20Business%20Ethics%20from%20Aristotle%E2%80%99s%20Virtue%20Ethics.pdf, p. 15

  34. Arendt H (1958) The human condition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  35. Aristotle (2009) Metaphysics, XII, chaps. 7 and 9. http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/metaphysics.html

  36. McKeon R (ed) (1947) Nicomachean ethics. In: Introduction to Aristotle. Modern Library, New York, pp 1178b26–1178b30; 1179a33

    Google Scholar 

  37. Mandeville B (2012) The fable of the bees. http://oll.libertyfund.org/index.php?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=846&layout=html#chapter_66840

  38. Stirner M (1907) The ego and his own http://flag.blackened.net/daver/anarchism/stirner/theego0.html

  39. Rand A (1964) The virtue of selfishness. Signet, New York

    Google Scholar 

  40. Friedman M (2002) Capitalism and freedom. University of Chicago Press, Chicago/London

    Google Scholar 

  41. Bragues G (2005) Business is one thing, ethics is another: revisiting Bernard Mandevill’s fable of the bees. Bus Ethics Quart 15(2):179–203

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Hobbes T (2010) Leviathan, Ch. XXI. http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/h/hobbes/thomas/h68l/chapter21.html

  43. Rousseau JJ (1761) First discourse. http://oll.libertyfund.org/?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=638&chapter=71081&layout=html&Itemid=27

  44. Strauss L (1939) The spirit of sparta or the taste of xenophon. Social Research 6(1):502–536

    Google Scholar 

  45. Lockwood TC (2003) “Justice in Aristotle’s household and city”. Polis: The J Soc Greek Political Thought 20(1–2):1–21

    Google Scholar 

  46. Wood AW (2006) The supreme principle of morality. In: Guyer P (ed) The Cambridge companion to Kant and modern philosophy. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, p 344

    Google Scholar 

  47. Summers CH (1992) Teaching the virtues. Published Feb 1992. http://www.forerunner.com/forerunner/X0116_Teaching_the_Virtues.html.Hoff Summers

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Political Science, Clemson Institute for the Study of Capitalism, Clemson, SC, USA

    Dr. Colin D. Pearce

Authors
  1. Dr. Colin D. Pearce
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Colin D. Pearce .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

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

    Christoph Luetge

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

About this entry

Cite this entry

Pearce, C.D. (2013). Aristotle and Business: An Inescapable Tension. In: Luetge, C. (eds) Handbook of the Philosophical Foundations of Business Ethics. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1494-6_45

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1494-6_45

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-007-1493-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-007-1494-6

  • eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and Law

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation