Why Business Ethics Matters

Abstract

In our lives, there are times to make peace, to make love, to make amends, to make money, to make tracks, and to do many other things. There is also a time to make war. Making war in the form of making a systematic, reasoned argument that A is better than B, in a situation in which other reasonable people can, and should, argue that B is better than A, is not for everyone. But for those of us who, in at least part of our lives, are politicians, lawyers, normative philosophers, or other types of advocate, it is our duty.

Arjuna: I do not see how any good can come from killing my own kinsmen in this battle, nor can I, my dear Krishna, desire any subsequent victory, kingdom or happiness. Of what avail to us are a kingdom, happiness or even life itself when all those for whom we may desire them are now arrayed on this battlefield?

Krishna: While speaking learned words, you are mourning for what is not worthy of grief. Neither he who thinks the living entity the slayer nor he who thinks it slain is in knowledge. There is neither a slayer nor a slain. One who has taken his birth is sure to die, and after death one is sure to take birth again. Therefore, in the unavoidable discharge of your duty, you should not lament.

—The Bhagavad Gita