Abstract
Business ethics as an applied inquiry requires an expanded normative method which allows both philosophical and religious ethical considerations to be employed in resolving complex issues or cases. The proposed foundational normative method provides a comprehensive framework composed of major philosophical and religious ethical theories. An extensive rationale from the current trends in business ethics and metaethical considerations supports the development of this method which is illustrated in several case studies. By using this method, scholars and business persons gain greater certitude about the ethical quality of their deliberations and decision making than what may be achieved with current nonsystematic or nascent normative methods.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ayer, A. J.: 1936, Language, Truth, and Logic (Victor Gollancz, London).
Baier, Kurt.: 1958, The Moral Point of View (Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY).
Baumhart, S. J., Raymond.: 1968, An Honest Profit; What Businessmen Say About Ethics in Business (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York).
Bentham, Jeremy.: 1823, An Introduction to the Principles of Moral and Legislation (E. Wilson and W. Pickering, London).
Brenner, Steven N. and Molander, Earl A.: 1977, ‘Is the Ethics of Business Changing?’, Harvard Business Review 55 (January–February), 57–71.
Curran, Charles E.: 1975, ‘Paul Ramsey and Tradition and Roman Catholic National Law Theory’, Ongoing Revision in Moral Theology (Fides Publishers, Inc., Notre Dame, IN).
Davis, Scott.: 1983, ‘Ethical Properties and Divine Commands’, The Journal of Religious Ethics 11 (Fall), 280–300.
De George, Richard T.: 1982, Business Ethics (Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., New York).
Donaldson, Thomas.: 1982, Corporations and Morality (Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, NJ).
Frankena, William K.: 1964/1973a, Ethics 1st/2nd ed., (Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, NJ).
1966, ‘On Saying the Ethical Thing’, Proceedings and Addresses of the American Philosophical Association 39, 21–42.
1973b, ‘The Ethics of Love Conceived as an Ethics of Virtue’, The Journal of Religious Ethics 1 (Fall), 21–36.
Fuchs, Josef, S. J.: 1965, Natural Law: A Theological Investigation (Sheed and Ward, New York).
Garrett, Thomas.: 1966, Business Ethics (Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, NJ).
Goodpaster, Kenneth E.: 1982, ‘Managing Responsible Advertising’, Teaching note 5-383-011, Harvard Business School.
Goodpaster, Kenneth E. 1983, ‘Ethical Frameworks for Management’, Teaching note 0-384-105, Harvard Business School.
Green, Ronald.: 1973, ‘Jewish Ethics and the Virtue of Humility’, The Journal of Religious Ethics 1 (Fall), 53–63.
Gustafson, James M.: 1975, Can Ethics Be Christian? (University of Chicago Press, Chicago).
1978, Protestant and Roman Catholic Ethics: Prospects for Rapprochement (University of Chicago Press, Chicago).
1981, Ethics from a Theocentric Perspective: Theology and Ethics (University of Chicago Press, Chicago).
Hancock, David.: 1974, Twentieth Century Ethics (Columbia University Press, New York).
Harman, Gilbert.: 1977, The Nature of Morality: An Introduction to Ethics (Oxford University Press, New York).
Hauerwas, Stanley.: 1974, Vision and Virtue: Essays in Christian Ethical Reflection (Fides Publishers, Inc., Notre Dame, IN).
Helm, Paul, ed.: 1981, Divine Commands and Morality, Oxford Readings in Philosophy (Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Kant, Immanuel: 1785/1969, The Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals, Translated by Lewis White Beck (Bobbs-Merrill Co., Indianapolis).
Lehmann, Paul L.: 1963, Ethics in a Christian Context Harper & Row, Publishers, New York).
Levine, Aaron: 1980, Free Enterprise and Jewish Law: Aspects of Jewish Business Ethics (Yeshiva University Press, New York).
Luthans, Fred and Hodgetts, Richard: 1967, Social Issues in Business (Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., New York).
MacIntyre, Alasdair: 1966, A Short History of Ethics (Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., New York).
Mitchell, Jr., John E.: 1962, The Christian in Business (Fleming H. Revell Co., Westwood, NJ).
Moore, G. E.: 1903, Principia Ethica (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge).
Nickel, Herman: 1980, ‘The Corporate Haters’, Fortune 101 (June 16), 126–136.
Nielsen, Kai and Abelson, Raziel: 1967, ‘Ethics of History’, in Enclyclopedia of Philosophy, 81–117.
Novak, Michael: 1981, Toward a Theology of the Corporation (American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, Washington, D.C.).
1982, ‘atCan a Christian Work for a Corporation?’, ‘The Theology of the Corporation’, in (eds.) O. Williams and John Houck, The Judeo-Christian Vision and the Modern Corporation (University of Notre Dame Press, Notre Dame, IN), 170–204.
Oldenquist, Andrew: 1966, ‘Rules and Consequences’, Mind 75 (April), 180–192.
Ramsey, Ian T.: 1966, ‘Moral Judgments and God's Commands’, in Christian Ethics and Contemporary Philosophy (SCM Press, London), 152–172.
Ramsey, Paul: 1950, Basic Christian Ethics (Charles Scribner's Sons, New York).
Rawls, John: 1971, A Theory of Justice (Harvard University Press, Cambridge).
Ross, W. David: 1930, The Right and the Good (Clarendon Press, Oxford).
Schatz, Willie: 1983, ‘Can CRTs Kill?’, Datamation 29 (July), 56–57.
Sidgwick, Henry: 1891, The Methods of Ethics (Macmillan and Co., London).
Sidorsky, David: 1975, ‘The Antonomy of Moral Objectivity’, in (ed.) Marvin Fox, Modern Jewish Ethics (Ohio State University Press, Columbus, OH).
Sparshott, F. E.: 1958, An Enquiry Into Goodness (University of Chicago Press, Chicago).
Spurrier, William A.: 1962, Ethics and Business (Charles Scribner's Sons, New York).
Stevens, Edward: 1979, Business Ethics (Paulist Press, New York).
Toulmin, Stephen: 1950, An Examination of the Place of Reason in Ethics (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge).
Towle, Joseph W., ed.: 1964, Ethics and Standards in American Business (Houghton Mifflin, Boston).
Turnbull, Colin M.: 1961, The Forest People (Simon and Schuster, New York).
1972, The Mountain People (Simon and Schuster, New York).
Velasquez, Manuel G.: 1982, Business Ethics: Concepts and Cases (Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, NJ).
Van Doren, William H.: 1852, Mercantile Morals; or, Thoughts for Young Men Entering Mercantile Life (Charles Scribner, New York).
Wallace, G. and Walker, A. D. M.: 1970, The Definition of Morality (Methuen & Co., Ltd., London).
Wellman, Carl: 1971, Challenge and Response: Justification in Ethics (Southern Illinois University, Carbondale).
Williams, Oliver F. and Houck, John: 1978, Full Value: Cases in Christian Business Ethics (University of Notre Dame Press, Notre Dame, IN).
1982, The Judeo-Christian Vision and the Modern Corporation (University of Notre Dame Press, Notre Dame, IN).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Lester F. Goodchild teaches business ethics, religious studies, and history in the School for New Learning at DePaul University. His business experience includes management and consulting in several regional and international corporations. He received his doctorate from the Department of Education at the University of Chicago in 1986. His dissertation described how strategic policy decisions created the missions of three Catholic universities in the midwestern United States from 1842 to 1980.
An earlier version of this paper was delivered at the Midwest American Academy of Religion Meeting at George Williams College, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin on April 8, 1983. I would like to thank William K. Frankena, Dennis McCann, Robert Cooke, Thomas McMahon, C. S. V., Patricia H. Werhane, and James A. O'Donohoe for their helpful comments in its revision.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Goodchild, L.F. Toward a foundational normative method in business ethics. Journal of Business Ethics 5, 485–499 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00380755
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00380755