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Vicarious Ethics: Politics, Business, and Sustainable Development

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Abstract

An historical overview of the United Nations sustainable development initiative reflects a convergence of political and ethical concerns, and a need to incorporate business and the ethics of business into an inclusive perspective. Underlying all of the resolutions and recommendations ensuing from that initiative is the age-old question of “the one and the many,” with which theology and philosophy have grappled for centuries, and sociology and politics in more recent times. Inherent to sustainable development is a need to overcome that question, especially with respect to the power of the wealthier nations. Good old American Pragmatism offers a solution which, at once, respects individual and communal sovereignty while positing a dynamic interaction between the two. That interaction offers an optimistic approach to global business and to global business ethics.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Government and Politics, St. John's University, 8000 Utopia Parkway, Jamaia, NY, 11439

    Frank P. LeVeness

  2. Department of Theology and Religious Studies, St. John's University, 8000 Utopia Parkway, Jamaia, NY, 11439

    Patrick D. Primeaux S.M.

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  1. Frank P. LeVeness
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  2. Patrick D. Primeaux S.M.
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LeVeness, F.P., Primeaux, P.D. Vicarious Ethics: Politics, Business, and Sustainable Development. Journal of Business Ethics 51, 185–198 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:BUSI.0000033612.88478.4b

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:BUSI.0000033612.88478.4b

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