A Critical survey of the

different normative
ethical theories
commonly used in
business decision
making
The norms of morality according to the
scholastic philosophy and traditional ethics

 Morality consists of the conformity or non-conformity of the

human conduct with norms.

Norms, Ethical
Principles, Rules,
Human Conduct among others Judgment

Conformity Or
Non-conformity Moral Or
Immoral
The Norms of Morality

 Conscience- Traditional ethics considers

conscience as the proximate norm of morality.
It is defined as the practical judgment of
reason deciding upon an individual act as good
and to be followed or as evil and therefore, to
be avoided.
Types Of conscience

 Moralists say that there are eight kinds of conscience, to wit:

Antecedent, consequent, right or true, erroneous, certain,
doubtful, scrupulous, and lax.
8 Kinds of conscience

 Antecedent Conscience- is a judgment before an action is done.

Its main functions are to command, to advice, to forbid, and to
permit.
 Consequent Conscience- is a judgment after an act is done. It
bears the following effects; inner peace and remorse.
 True conscience – is a conscience which judges things truly as
they are. Knowledge and the sense of responsibility for one’s
actions help greatly in forming a correct conscience.
 Erroneous Conscience- is also called false conscience. It judges
things in a distorted manner since it considers bad acts as good
and good acts as bad.
 Certain Conscience- is a subjective certainty of the legality of
particular actions to be done or to be omitted. This is the kind of
conscience that moralist recommend to be always followed by
man.
 Doubtful Conscience happens when a person is not certain about
a moral judgement.
 Scrupulous conscience is one which sees wrong where there is
none.
 Lax conscience it is the kind of conscience which fails to see
wrong where there is wrong.
Natural law

 Traditional ethics consider this as the remote norm of morality. It

reflects what the thing is in accordance with its nature.
 St. Thomas Aquinas believes that the purpose is always good. A good
act therefore, is what befits the nature of man; a bad act is one that
does not befit man’s nature.
Kantian Ethics
 “ we may think of ourselves as legislating universal laws through
our maxims. We may think of ourselves as such autonomous
legislators only insofar as we follow our own laws.”
 He claim that the sense of duty is the sole norm of morality
Jeremy Bentham XXX

 “Action is considered right or wrong depending on the

consequences”.
John Stuart Mill

 Human beings pursue happiness naturally and will avoid pain or

suffering.
 Therefore an act that promotes happiness is moral, and that
which causes pain is immoral.
 Happiness can be defined positively and negatively.
 Positive definition- happiness is anything that is pleasurable to
the greater number of people. \
 Negative definition- happiness is the absence of pain.
Moral positivism

 According to Thomas Hobbes, People would act on their evil

impulses if left alone. Therefore they should not be trusted to
make their own decisions.
 In general, it is considered that the basis of all moral laws, are
laws of the state. Therefore a behavior is good when it is
accordance with the laws of the state, and evil, if it is forbidden
by the state
The Main Proponents of virtue
ethics are, Socrates, Plato, and
Aristotle

Deontological Teleological
Virtue Ethics Ethics
Ethics
(Heart/character) (Result/Consequ
(motive/principle)
ences)
 Socrates

According to the beliefs of the ancient Greek philosopher

Socrates, one develops ethics through maturity, wisdom and love. Socrates introduced
the concept of
teaching ethics and acceptable standards of conduct in 400 B.C. and has had a profound
and lasting impact on the course of Western philosophy and history ever since.
He believed virtue was found primarily in human relationships, love and friendship, not
through material gains.
Plato
 Plato maintains a virtue-based eudaemonistic conception of ethics. That is
to say, happiness or well-being (eudaimonia) is the highest aim of moral
thought and conduct, and the virtues are the requisite skills and
dispositions needed to attain it.
Aristotle

 According to Aristotle, we must take the “middle way” or the

mean between two extremes. Aristotle also rejected all forms of
imbalance. We must not only develop our mind but also our body.
Virtues come from the ability to govern excessive or lack of
feelings.
Types of Pleasure

For Epicurus, pleasure is tied closely to satisfying one’s desires. And

he distinguish four types of pleasure:
 Intense, Short-lasting pleasure (spending all money in clothes)
 Less intense, longer-lasting pleasure (saving money for future
schooling).
 Pleasures that culminate in pain (going to the dentist because
one has eaten a lot of chocolate).
 Pleasure that give us peaceful well-being (acting morally).
Pragmatism Of Peirce, James
and Dewey
 Pragmatism is a Philosophy that attempts to clarify our ideas and
to emphasize the practical usefulness of ideas and beliefs as the
criteria for truth.
Christian Ethics

 Ethical Teaching of Jesus Christ- The moral used by our Lord Jesus Christ is
similar to those of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle,.e.g., a personal call
towards self realization. However, his ethics contains different nuances
compared to those of the Greek triumvirate since His is so radical, so
demanding, yet so fair, because it is addressed to everyone whether he is a
king, a prince, a pauper, or a slave.
a) The Ethics of Jesus shows more preference to the poor and the oppressed
b) The Ethics of Jesus is an ethic of love
c) The Ethics of Jesus demands honesty and authenticity
d) The Ethics of Jesus is an ethics which teaches faith in God as a Father.
e) The Ethics of Jesus is an ethics of peace and reconciliation
f) The Ethics of Jesus demands sacrifice and suffering.
Ethical Teaching of St. Augustine

 The focal point of St. Augustine’s moral imperative is God; and

because love is the highest attribute of God, love, eventually, is
considered by this so-called proponent of medieval philosophy as
the basis and central point of his moral teaching.