Classical Philosophies and the
Evolution of Business Ethics
Let’s read and ponder!
Learning from the Ancient Greek Philosophers
Learning from the Ancient Greek Philosophers
What is the most valuable lesson that can be
learned by business people from these Greek
philosophers?
Table of contents
The Three Greek Philosophers
01 Let’s revisit the lives and works of these three
famous philosophers
Virtue Ethics
02 How is it important in building the image of
business.
History of Business Ethics
03
What is this all about?
01
The Three Greek Philosophers
Socrates
• Born in 469 B.C., he received ordinary Greek
education but he devoted much time to read
the works of famous philosophers of his time
like Zeno and Parmenides.
• He did not build any school or any
philosophical system. However, he had a very
enduring influence over Plato, his student.
• One of his contributions is an effective
teaching technique called the Socratic method.
Socrates
• Gregory Vlastos, a philosophy professor,
describes the Socratic method as “one of the
greatest achievements of humanity”.
• Socrates believed that self-knowledge is
sufficient to achieve a good life. If knowledge
can be learned, so can virtue.
• True happiness is gained by doing what is
right. He believed that no one knowingly
harms himself.
Socrates
• Therefore, if harm comes to a person, then the
person must have acted in ignorance.
• For Socrates, knowledge is the propagation of
what is good, virtuous, or excellent; whereas
ignorance is the focus on what is bad, evil, and
useless.
• Each one of us is responsible for our own
happiness.
Plato
• Born in 427 B.C., Plato was raised with a noble
background.
• He founded a philosophical school, the
Academy, which stood from 387 BC until 86
BC.
• Plato wrote the Laches which dealt with
courage and Charmides which was about
common sense.
• His other works are Euthyphro which was
about piety, Lysis which was about friendship,
and Protagoras which taught of goodness.
Plato
• He also wrote The Apology and Crito which
dealt with historical events, particularly about
Socrates.
• One of his famous work is The Republic where
Socrates is the main character.
Aristotle
• He was a Greek philosopher and scientist who
developed the scientific method.
• Aristotle founded a philosophical school
named the Lyceum, located near a shrine of
Apollo Lyceus.
• Aristotle’s earliest writings were in the form of
dialogues such Rhetoric, Eudemus (On the
Soul), On Philosophy, On Prayer, and On
Education.
02
Virtue Ethics
Virtue Ethics
• Virtue is a term which is equivalent to the Greek word arête, which
means excellence.
• An excellent human should include moral virtues in order to achieve
happiness. The achievement of happiness is the end goal of human life.
• Virtue Ethics is defines as a person-based ethics which looks at the
moral character of the person carrying out a particular action.
• Virtue ethics does not focus on following rules but the development of
good traits which will help the person make decisions in life.
Virtue Ethics
• One of the advocates of virtue ethics was Plato.
• Aristotle came up with the first description of virtue
ethics in his book Nichomachean Ethics.
• Aristotle and Plato are considered virtue ethicists.
Plato was influenced by his teacher, Socrates, in
conceptualizing virtues.
• “To know the good is to do good.” if one is wise. All
other virtues will follow.
• Aristotle was not contented with just knowing what is
good. He believed that an individual needs to practice
virtue to be really virtuous.
03
History of Business Ethics
Early Years
• Aristotle discussed economic activities and emphasized
the negative consequence of greed, which he describes as
the “unnatural use one’s capabilities in the pursuit of
wealth for its own sake.”
• John Locke’s key philosophy on the defense of property as
a natural right also helped build the foundation of
business ethics.
• Adam Smith explained that the common good is
associated with six psychological motives and that each
individual has to produce for the common good with
values such as prosperity, prudence, reason, sentiment,
and promoting the happiness of mankind.
Early Years
• The contributors of the emergence of
business ethics include John Stuart Mill
(1863), Immanuel Kant (1899), and G.W.F.
Hegel (1820). They wrote about distributive
justice and fairness.
• John Rawls propagated the Difference
Principle.
New Generation Ethics
• In 1937, the first managerial textbook in business ethics
was Business Ethics by Frank Chapman Sharp and Phillip D.
Fox.
• In the 1960, there was a wide interest in business ethics
and it emerged as an academic field in the 1970s.
• One of the ethical decision making models was developed
by Hunt and Vitell in 1986.
• Ferrell and Gresham (1985), Trevino (1986), and Jones
(1991) also contributed ethical decision models which
emphasizes that co-employees and peers are most
influential in ethical decisions.
New Generation Ethics
• Publications were released consistently in a span of ten
years. The Journal of Business Ethics started in 1982
while the Business Ethics Quarterly and Business Ethics:
A European Review were published in 1991 and 1992
respectively.
• The Defense Industry Initiative on Business Ethics and
conduct of the United states Government was
established in 1986 and had a big impact on business
ethics in the 80s.
• The 1990s saw the development of business ethics as an
academic discipline as well as a policy in organizations.
BULLET POINTS
Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle are the prominent Greek
1 philosophers who have contributed to the development of the
concept of business ethics.
Business ethics has been recognized for thousands of years
2 dating back to the time of Aristotle.
Virtue ethics is person-based rather than action-based ethical
3 theory. It focuses more on the moral character of people in
carrying out a particular action.
BULLET POINTS
The contributors to the emergence of business ethics include
4 John Locke, John Stuart Mill, Immanuel Kant, and G.W.F. Hegel.
John Rawls propagated the Difference Principle while the first
5 book on ethics was published by sharp and Fox.
Hunt and Vitell: Ferrell and Gresham; Trevino; and Jones
6 developed ethical decision models.
BULLET POINTS
The Defense Industry Initiative on Business Ethics and Conduct had a big
7 impact on business ethics in the 80s.
The views of the three Greek philosophers can be linked together. Plato
was a profound advocate of Socrates, his mentor. The Socratic view of
Plato was founded on his belief that knowledge is a virtue. For Aristotle,
8 to know what was right was not enough. There should be a choice to act
in the right manner. It means that a person should habitually do what is
good.
For Socrates and Plato, wisdom is the basic virtue and it can unify all the
other virtues. For Aristotle, wisdom is a goal that can only be achieved
9 with effort and if there is a choice on the person to think and act wisely.
All the other virtues are not achievable at this time.
