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Thematic Symposium Editorial: Virtue Ethics Between East and West

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Abstract

Virtue ethics is widely recognized as one of three major approaches in contemporary moral philosophy and arguably the most influential normative theory in business ethics. Despite its rich pedigree in Western and Eastern philosophy, most work in contemporary virtue ethics is part of the Western tradition. The purpose of this Thematic Symposium is to foster dialogue between Western and Eastern conceptions of virtue in business and engage them with questions about the nature, justification, and content of the virtues in each tradition. This Editorial offers a brief introduction to the problem, a summary of Western and Eastern varieties of virtue ethics, an overview of the six articles included in this Thematic Symposium, and a section with five common themes for further exploration and future collaborative research (namely, the centrality of rites and rituals, the normative status of social relationships and organizations, role modeling, the analogy of families and communities to define the business corporation, and the definition of social responsibilities).

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Notes

  1. Although we are predominantly using the term “Chinese philosophy” here [in line with Fung (1958) and Moore (1967)], we are aware that attempts to classify Chinese schools of thought in Western categories such as ‘philosophy,’ ‘religion’ or ‘ethical system’ are failing to capture their entirety. All these schools of thought have characteristics of each of these categories, yet, are not fully compatible with any one of them.

  2. Nylan (2014) for example criticizes the inadequate translation of yi as “righteousness” by James Legge, as he finds it too moralizing. .

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Alzola, M., Hennig, A. & Romar, E. Thematic Symposium Editorial: Virtue Ethics Between East and West. J Bus Ethics 165, 177–189 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-019-04317-2

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