Business Ethics: Ethics of Duties

The ethics of duties have a bold objective: to establish the foundational principle that characterizes a discussion as a matter of ethics, and not just one of scientific principles of cause and effect. This approach promotes the use of reason and, therefore, purports to safeguard the freedom of all people caught up in a particular ethical dilemma. This review establishes why it is important to keep reason as the main objective, covers the necessary conditions for upholding reason, and discusses the categorical imperative, which is the principle that the ethics of duty holds to guide actions in all matters of ethics. The review then proposes a framework to apply the categorical imperative in matters of business ethics, that is, upholding the human faculty of reason, treating those in our midst as ends-in-themselves (instead of means for our own gain), and the construction of social institutions that promote freedom. Finally, a case demonstrates how the ethics of duties help companies pursue their objectives by delving into the complications of the social issues they need to address.