Business Ethics and Ethical Business

Business Ethics and Ethical Business is a comprehensive yet brief analytical introduction to the field of business ethics. In three parts, it covers the major problems associated with the place of business in society, the ethics of internal management, and the challenges of internationalbusiness in view of common ethical standards (justice and veracity, beneficence and loyalty, and freedom and respect for persons, among others) and classic ethical theories (Aristotle's virtue ethics, Immanuel Kant's rule-based ethics, J. S. Mill's utilitarianism, and W. D. Ross's intuitionism,etc.). Integrated into the discussion are a number of distinctive elements. Robert Audi takes into account both large companies and small, family owned business; clarifies the nature and importance of rights; and explores the relation between law and ethics in several parts of the book. For a clearerunderstanding of democracy, he considers two main competing views of business in society - the free market view and the corporate social responsibility approach. He also offers brief concept definitions throughout, which later appear in a glossary at the back of the book, to further clarify keyideas. Accompanying the chapters is an Appendix featuring sixteen Case Scenarios modeled on ethical problems common in the business world. The result is a thorough presentation of business ethics that helps readers to acquire the basic conceptual and ethical tools needed to address the moralproblems facing businesses today.