BA 300

CSR, ETHICS & GOOD

GOVERNANCE

CHAPTER 5: THE DIFFERENT NORMATIVE ETHICAL

THEORIES COMMONLY USED IN BUSINESS DECISION
MAKING
Objectives

At the end of this chapter, the students are expected to:

• understand and evaluate critically the various ethical
theories and principles as propose by different
philosophers
• appreciate ethics as a normative science
• resolve moral issues and ethical dilemmas in business
from the perspective of various ethical theories
• Develop the ability to identify and resolve moral issues
in business
Introduction
• Ethics is not only concerned with the study of what is
right or wrong in our human conduct.

• Ethics also investigates how man ought to behave in a

very specific and concrete situation by examining his
conduct in the light of various norms that guide his
moral judgment.

• The word ought also implies the moral obligation on the

part of the actor or the doer of such action.
The Norms of Morality According to the
Scholastic Philosophy & Traditional Ethics
• Morality consist of the conformity or non-conformity of the
human conduct with norm.

• In the light of Traditional Ethics, these norms are called the

“dictates of reason.”

• Morality therefore, is defined as the quality of a thing

manifesting its conformity or non-conformity with its norms or
criteria.

• R. Gula, defines the norms of morality as, “criteria of

judgment about the sort of persons we ought to be and the
sort of actions we ought to perform.”
The Norms of Morality According to the
Scholastic Philosophy & Traditional Ethics
• These are standards that indicate the rightfulness or
wrongfulness, the goodness or evilness, the value or
disvalue of a thing.
Norms
Ethical Principles,
Rules, among others
Human Conduct
Conformity
or
Non-conformity Moral
or
Immoral

Evaluating the Human Conduct

Judgment
The Norms of Morality

The Norms of Morality

• Conscience is the practical judgment of reason

deciding upon an individual act as good and to be
followed or as evil and therefore, to be avoided.

• It is one of the criteria for evaluating human act, its

judgment may not be correct at all times.

• Thus, there is a need to educate our conscience so that

it can correct moral judgment.
The Norms of Morality

Types of Conscience

1. Antecedent conscience is a judgment before an action is

done. Its main functions are to command, to advice, to
forbid, and to permit.

2. Consequent conscience is a judgment after an act is

done. It bears the following effects: inner peace and
remorse

3. 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.
The Norms of Morality

Types of Conscience

4. 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. It is brought about by a
false interpretation if the moral principles.

Two kinds of erroneous conscience

a. Invincible or inculpable – means that the agent is
without fault or knowledge
b. Vincible and culpable – means that the conscience
is erroneous through the agent’s fault
The Norms of Morality
Types of Conscience

5. Certain conscience is a subjective certainty of the legal 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.

6. Doubtful conscience happens when a person is not

certain about moral judgment. Moralist recommend that
this kind of conscience should not be followed unless the
person has resolved the doubt.

7. Scrupulous conscience is one which sees wrong where

there is none. It is a conscience which is extremely serious;
it is always scared to commit evil.
The Norms of Morality
Types of Conscience

8. Lax conscience is the opposite of scrupulous conscience.

It is the kind of conscience which fails to see wrong where
there is wrong. This conscience categorically needs a right
education.

• Natural Law is a theory in ethics and philosophy that

says that human beings possess intrinsic values that
govern our reasoning and behavior.

• Natural law maintains that these rules of right and wrong

are inherent in people and are not created by society or
court judges.
The Norms of Morality

• Eternal law is comprised of those laws that govern the

nature of an eternal universe.

• It is the law which God in the creation of man infused

into him for his direction and preservation.
Kantian Ethics
Immanuel Kant (1724 – 1804)
• Born in Königsberg, Germany
on 22 April 1724
• In 1740 Kant entered the
University of Königsberg.
• He published science papers,
including "General Natural
History and Theory of the
Heavens" in 1755.
• He spent 15 years as a
metaphysics lecturer.
• In 1781, he published the first
part of Critique of Pure Reason.
• He died on February 12, 1804,
in Konigsberg, Russia.
Kantian Ethics
Kant’s Moral Rationalism

• Kant believe that reason is autonomous.

• For him, reason is “the be all and end all” of everything.

• Kant maintained that all truths and all knowledge are derived
from human reason.

• Thus, all laws and all moral principles also came from human
reason.

• Reason commands and we must obey it without questioning

because absolute morality requires absolute obedience.
Kantian Ethics
Kant’s Moral Rationalism

• For Kant, morality is:

- A priori. – is not based and not derived from experience.

- It is universal. – it applies to everybody.

- It is absolute. – moral laws are complete and fixed.

- Moral laws are immutable. – moral laws cannot be

changed.
Kantian Ethics
Kant’s Categorical Imperative

• Kant argues that morality is a product of reason, the obedience

to this command is true and binding because it is beyond
experience.

• As priori, the command to live a moral life by obeying the laws of

reason is a must.

• Categorical imperative is an unconditional obligation, or an

obligation that we have regardless of our will or desires.
Kantian Ethics
Kant’s Categorical Imperative

• Moral duties can be derived from the categorical imperative

which can be formulated in three ways:

- First, The Formula of Universal Law or the Principle of

Universalizability says: “Act only in accordance with that
maxim through which you can at the same time will that it
becomes a universal law.”

- Second, The Formula of Humanity or Principle of

Humanity says: “Act that you use humanity, whether in your
own person or in the person of any other, always at the
same time as an end, never merely as a means.”
Kantian Ethics
Kant’s Categorical Imperative

- Third, The Formula of Autonomy, is a synthesis of the

previous two. It says that we should so act that 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.
Kantian Ethics
Business Applications

a. Kant introduce the importance of humanistic dimension into

business decisions, e.g., treat human beings not as means to an
end, because human beings have ends in themselves.

b. Kant stresses the importance of motives and of acting on

principles, e.g., business decisions are based sometimes on
personal convictions and principles regardless of the outcome or
results.

c. Kant’s Categorical Imperatives gives us firm rules to follow in m

moral decision making, rules that do not depend on circumstances
or results and that do not permit individuals exceptions, e.g., no
matter what the consequences may be or who does it, some
actions are always wrong, e.g., lying, breaking promises, etc.
The Machiavellian Principle
Niccolo Machiavelli (1469 – 1527)
• Born in Florence Italy on May 3,
1469.
• Historian, Playwright, Essayist,
Dramatist, Sketch Writer,
Biographer, Dialogist, writer of
novel and poets, and Political
Theorist.
• Concerned with examining
political and historical problems.
• Published The Prince. Gain,
maintain and centralize power by
any means.
• Writings became more widely
known in the mid 16th century.
The Machiavellian Principle
Ethical Philosophy

• Machiavelli believe in the phrase “the end justifies the means”.

• It means that sometimes people have to do something not

necessarily good to attain something good.

• His principles indicated that a leader should be prepared to do

evil when necessary to gain power.

• His principle operates with the assumption that people are bad
which, during his time, was true for the state of Florence in
particular, and for Italy in general.
The Machiavellian Principle
Ethical Philosophy

• It can be observed that Machiavelli did not create his own

principles for a leader’s personal gain but to maintain a
government or principality for the good of the state.

• Summarize this principle: “any man who tries to be good all the
time is bound to come to ruin among the great number who are
not good. Hence, a prince who wants to keep his authority
must learn not to be good, and use that knowledge, or refrain
from using it, as necessity requires.”
The Machiavellian Principle
“The end justifies the means.”

Leader Means End

Do anything Creation of an ideal

Absolute
illegal or State/Government
Monarch
immoral (gain & maintain
power)
The Machiavellian Principle
Business Application

• On Management. A management style where all employees

are required to work very hard no matter what it takes just to
achieve the goal could be a scenario of applying the
Machiavellian principle.

• The employees sacrifice their time for family, relationship with

others and with God to comply with the demands of the
competitive work environment.

• Indirectly, the means to achieve the goal of a corporation takes

all measures, even changing the lifestyle of a person.
The Machiavellian Principle
Business Application

• On the Individual. In meeting the demands of a job to make

both ends meet or to provide for a comfortable life for the family,
people tend to prioritize their time for work over time for family.

• The intension is to give the best to the family in terms of

material things but in the process, they sacrifice quality time for
the family.

• In effect, the good objective of providing for the family becomes

the excuse for neglecting other responsibilities.

• The end does not justify the means.

The Machiavellian Principle
Business Applications

• On Leadership. Autocratic leadership style is necessary

especially in running an organization. Although the democratic
style of leadership has its own benefits, it may not work in
some instances, and in some organizations.

• At times, we need a strong autocratic leader to motivate people,

to attain the goals of a state or organization.
Utilitarianism of Jeremy Bentham
Jeremy Bentham (1748 – 1832)

• He was born in London at a time

of great scientific and social
change.

• With revolutions in France and

America demands were being
made for human rights and
greater democracy.

• Bentham worked on legal reforms

and wrote The Principles of
Morals and Legislations 1789
Utilitarianism of Jeremy Bentham
Ethical Philosophy

• According to Bentham, utility means that property in any object

which tends to produce benefits, advantage, pleasure, good, or
happiness.

• Utilitarian ethics put emphasis and significance on the

consequences as results of an act and completely disregards
the motive of an act.

• An action is considered right or wrong depending on the

consequences.

• Utilitarian principles disregard the importance of motive

because motive is known only to the person who has it.
Utilitarianism of Jeremy Bentham
Ethical Philosophy

• It would be difficult or impossible for others to praise or blame a

moral agent of a person’s action if motive alone will determine
human acts as good or bad, right or wrong.

• Bentham coined the phrase “The greatest good is the greatest

pleasure of the greatest number.”

• It implies that an action is considered to be good if it gives the

person the greatest pleasure or happiness to the majority of the
person affected by the action.

• On the other hand, an action is bad or evil if it does otherwise.

Utilitarianism of John Stuart Mill
John Stuart Mill (1806 – 1873)

• He was born in London on May 20,

1806

• He was educated entirely by his

father, James Mill and was
subjected to a rigid system of
intellectual discipline.

• At age 21, suffered nervous

breakdown due to stress imposed
by his father.

• Some say he was the greatest 19th

century British Philosopher.
Utilitarianism of John Stuart Mill
Mill’s Ethical Philosophy

• Mill believes that 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.

• To the utilitarian, happiness is not merely the happiness of one

person but rather the happiness of the greater number of
people.

• Utilitarian ethics provides a general criteria for what makes up

happiness but not the specific forms of happiness.
Utilitarianism of John Stuart Mill
Mill’s Ethical Philosophy

• According to Mill, 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.”

• Pleasure, according to Mill, has two forms namely the physical

and the mental.

• The physical form is the sensual indulges to bodily gratification,

e.g., sexual intercourse, eating, drinking, dancing, etc.
Utilitarianism of John Stuart Mill
Mill’s Ethical Philosophy

• The mental, intellectual, spiritual and moral form of pleasure

includes man’s noble feelings, imagination and moral
sentiments.

• Physical pleasure is considered as animalistic or beastly by Mill

since it appeals to the lower abilities of man.

• On the other hand, mental pleasures is superior and is

generally more difficult to achieve and pursuing them gives
dignity to man.

• Pleasure of this form includes enjoyment of freedom of will,

intellect, social recognition, feeling of self-worth, etc.
Utilitarianism
Business Applications

a. This principle can be used as Cost-Benefit Analysis. E.g., projects

are determined by their outcomes – more benefits or more costs.

b. The principle can also be use in the formulation of budgets. E.g.,

determining the overall impact of the budget.

c. Utilitarianism as a guide in decision-making can be applied in the

resolution of labor and management conflicts. E.g., win-win
solutions for both management and the labor

d. Utilitarianism as an ethical principle can also be used in the

calculation of opportunity cost. E.g., choosing between working
abroad and working in the country.
Moral Positivism
Thomas Hobbes (1588 – 1677)

• He was born in England on April 5,

1588.

• Moral and Political Philosopher

• Theorist of absolute rule, the

disintegration of social and political
order.

• Author of The Leviathan (1651) and

The Behemoth (1668); published in
1681 subsequently
Moral Positivism
Ethical Philosophy

• Hobbes believes that human beings are basically selfish creatures

who would do anything to improve their position.

• According to Hobbes, people would act on their evil impulse if left

alone. Therefore, they should not be trusted to make their own
decisions on their own.

• Hobbes also felt that like people, nations are selfishly motivated.
Each country is in a constant battle for power and wealth.

• In general, the basis of all moral laws are laws of the state.
Therefore, a behavior is good when it is in accordance with the
laws of the state and evil if it is forbidden by the state.
Moral Positivism
Business Applications

a. Businesses must follow the laws of the state and government

regulations.

b. Business enterprises must create company policies to maintain

discipline and order within the organization.

c. Businessmen and managers must be law abiding citizens.

d. Strong authority figures are sometimes necessary in

organizations to dissuade people from doing evil things and
prevent discord.
Divine Command Ethics
• Devine Command Ethics says that there is a divine being, who
has set down a finite series of rules that adherents claim can
provide guidance to most, if not all, moral decisions.

• An important example is the Ten Commandments taken from

the Judeo-Christian traditions. It includes key moral prohibitions
common to most cultures as well as some specific rules set
down to exact adherence to a particular religion.

• The Ten Commandments provides rules against stealing,

adultery, murder and so on.

• These basic rules are taken as guides for one’s behavior in a

wide range of cases. If you commit those against the rules
such as murder and abortion is wrong.
Divine Command Ethics
Business Applications

• For Christian believers, a good action is an action that conforms

to the commandments of God as reflected in the Bible and the
teachings of the church.

• For non-Christians, a good action conforms to the teachings of

exemplary non-divine beings like Buddha or Prophet
Mohammad.
Ethical Egoism
Ayn Rand (1905 – 1982)

• She was born in St. Petersburg,

Russia on February 02, 1905.

• Rand was a fascinating person and

an inspiring advocate of freedom
but very mixed blessing
philosophically.

• She studied history and philosophy

at the University of Petrograd.

• She was a novelist and a

philosopher.
Ethical Egoism
• Ethical egoism is the theory which says that the promotion of
one’s own good is in accordance with morality.

• The moral rule for ethical egoism is to look after his own self
and it is about how a person should behave. This simply
implies that a person should be selfish or self-interested.

• Calling the theory ethical does not suggest there might be a

decent way to be selfish. This is just a theory that advocates
egoism.

• To love ones’ own self is not as bad as people may think. It

becomes bad when other people are being affected in a
negative way, with the acts of loving one’s self too much.
Ethical Egoism
Ethical Philosophy

• According to Rand, “My morality of reason, is contained in a

single axiom: existence exists and in a single choice: to live.
The rest proceeds from these. To live, man must hold three
things as the ruling values of his life: reason, purpose and self-
esteem. Reason, as his only tool of knowledge; Purpose, as
his choice of happiness which that tool must proceed to
achieve; and Self-esteem, as his inviolate certainty that his
mind is competent to think and this person is worthy of
happiness, which means: worthy living. These three values
imply and require all of man’s virtues.”
Ethical Egoism
Business Applications

a. In business decision making, sometimes self-interest is

considered and given priority over and above the interest of
others, e.g., saving the company bankruptcy by laying off or
terminating employees.

b. The decision making process in business must be done

rationally, e.g., thinking before acting.

c. The promotion of self-interest, especially on the part of the

employees, is sometimes preferred over the interest of the
organization. E.g., a new employee is performing his job
diligently for fear that infractions of his duties may lead to
dismissal and loss of his job.
Ethical Egoism
Business Applications

d. Self-esteem and confidence are important personality factors

for business leaders and managers. A manger for instance,
can be confident but not necessarily arrogant.
Virtue Ethics
• Virtues ethics focus on the character of the person and virtues
he manifests.

• The person must reflect the appropriate moral virtues and

integrity in making decisions rather than focus on reasons for
doing an action, as proposed by Deontological Ethics and on
the results of his actions as proposed by Teleogical Ethics.

• The main proponent of virtue ethics are Socrates, Plato and

Aristotle.

DEONTOLOGICAL
VIRTUE ETHICS TELEOGICAL ETHICS
ETHICS
(heart/character) (results/consequences)
(motive/principle)
Virtue Ethics
Socrates (470 – 399 B.C.E.)

• He was born in Athens, Greece on

469 BCE.

• Often described as fat and ugly,

he was known for talking to
anyone engaging them in
philosophical debate.

• His commitment to philosophy

meant that personal hygiene
came second place – he was
often barefoot and dirty and have
very few possessions.
Virtue Ethics
Ethical Philosophy

• Socrates posited three special tenets in his moral philosophy:

1. Virtue (moral excellence) is identical with knowledge.

2. Vice (moral evil) is identical with ignorance and lack of

moral knowledge.

3. No one commits an evil act knowingly. Doing wrong arises

out of ignorance.
Virtue Ethics
Business Application

• In business world, employees make critical decisions that have

impacts on the operation of the company. The results might
lead to uncertainty.

• For example, when a private company is contemplating giving

an increase in salaries to its employees.

• The moral issues here lies on the impact of the increase on the
families of the employees rather than on the continued
operation of the company due to diversion of funds.
Virtue Ethics
Plato (428 – 348 B.C.E.)
• He was born in Athens, Greece on
428 BCE.

• Son of a wealthy Athenian family.

• His real name was Aristocles, but

his wrestling coach dubbed him
“Platon”, on account of his robust
figure.

• Served in the Athens army during

the Peloponnesian War.

• Student of Socrates, by whom he

was much influenced.
Virtue Ethics
Ethical Philosophy

• Knowing the Forms. These are eternal or universal principles

and perfect ideas. Plato maintained that all things in the
physical world are symbols of these perfect Forms in the World
of Ideas. And since these Forms are symbols, the world is not
the true reality.

• He believed that people are born to be naturally good. But, they

make judgments through the irrational part of the soul which
results to conflict. People do not choose an evil act to harm
themselves. They do evil acts because they are acting due to
ignorance.
Virtue Ethics
Ethical Philosophy

• For him, morality means waking up the reasons to its true

purpose. Reason must control the desires. Moreover, reason
must direct the will away from the intense pleasures to more
towards eternal ideas. If the desire and the will dominate, then
we act rationally out of ignorance, which then results in doing
evil acts.

• For Plato, the correct action or the moral action is an action that
is commanded by man’s reason.
Virtue Ethics
Business Application

• In business decision making, an outcome is accepted only if it is

done in the light of reasonable process. The right action or
moral action is one that is guided by reason. Reasonable and
virtuous action is one that is not dominated by the will or the
desire of the person.
Virtue Ethics
Aristotle (384 – 322 B.C.E.)
• He was born in the City of Stagira,
Chalcidice, Greece on 384 BCE.

• His name means “the best

purpose.”

• Little information about his

childhood.

• At age of 17 he joined Plato’s

Academy (remained there for 20
years).

• Married to Pythias (his daughter

was named after his wife).
Virtue Ethics
Ethical Philosophy

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

mean between two extremes. He rejected all forms of
imbalance. We must not develop our mind, but also our body.
Virtue comes from the ability to govern excessive or lack of
feelings. Any extremes would lead to vice. Thus, virtue come
from the mean between these extremes.

• The Golden Mean Principle states that “ to be happy, one must

live a life if moderation.” This means in everything that we do,
we must avoid doing extremes. For Aristotle, any excess or lack
of it is a form of evil or vice.
Virtue Ethics
Business Applications

a. In production planning and inventory control, finished goods

and raw materials must be carefully controlled so that the
company will not incur to much cost. If there is too much
finished goods or raw materials, inventory and warehouse
costs are high while lack of finished goods or raw materials
would entail a high opportunity loss and delay in
manufacturing.

b. The Principle of Moderation can be used in determining and

planning for profit. Too much profit results to greed, no profit
results to bankruptcy.
Virtue Ethics
Business Applications

c. Virtuous conduct is important not just in decision making but

also in maintaining moral ascendancy and personal integrity.

d. Success in business is not only measured in terms of profit but

also by the company’s moral integrity and credibility.
Epicureanism: The Doctrine of Pleasure
Epicurus (341 – 271 B.C.E.)
• He was born around 341 BCE and
grew up in Athens, Greece.

• A strong believer of Democritus and

was against Aristotle’s orders.

• Became a teacher in Colophon, an

ancient Greek city.

• Established a school in a garden

outside Athens.

• Died 270 BCE

Epicureanism: The Doctrine of Pleasure
Ethical Philosophy

• Epicurus believe that what he called “pleasure” is the greatest

good, but the way to attain such pleasure is to live modestly and
to gain knowledge of the workings of the world and the limits of
one’s desires.

• Epicureanism emphasizes the neutrality of the gods, that they

do not interfere with human lives.

• The emphasis was placed on pleasures of the mind rather than

on physical pleasures.
Epicureanism: The Doctrine of Pleasure
Types of Pleasures

1. Intense, short-lasting pleasure (spending all money in clothes).

2. Less intense, longer-lasting pleasure (saving money for future

schooling).

3. Pleasures that culminates in pain (going to the dentist because

one has eaten a lot of chocolates).

4. Pleasure that give us peaceful well-being (acting morally).

Epicureanism: The Doctrine of Pleasure
Business Applications

a. The pleasure-pain principle is sometimes used in business

decision making, e.g., measuring profit (pleasure) or loss
(pain).

b. The concept of pleasure can also be used as a benchmark

when businessmen derive reasonable returns from business
activities.
Pragmatism
Charles Sanders Peirce

• He was born on September 10,

1839 and died on April 19, 1914.

• He was an American philosopher,

logician, mathematician, and
scientist.

• Today he is appreciated largely for

his contribution to logic,
mathematics, philosophy, scientific
methodology, and semiotics, and for
his founding of pragmatism.
Pragmatism
Ethical Philosophy

• Peirce focused his pragmatism on logic and science. For him,

there must be connectivity between idea and action. He said that
our ideas are clear and distinct only when we can translate them
into some kind of meaningful action.

• For him, if an idea is not useful in solving a problem or bringing

about desirable results, then it does not have any significance at
all.
Pragmatism
William James

• He was born in Astor House in New

York on January 11, 1842.

• He was an American philosopher

and psychologist.

• William James’s most important

theories are:
- Pragmatism
- Functionalism
- Stream of consciousness
Pragmatism
Ethical Philosophy

• For James, pragmatism is an inquiry into the practical meaning of

events and issues. He argues that a thing is true only if it works.
He came up with a modified version of Pierce’s Pragmatism and
associated the idea of practicality with truth.

• He said that “an idea is only true if it does what you want it to do.”
meaning an idea is true or good only insofar as it has what he
called “a practical cash value”.

• For his point of view, pragmatism is a philosophy that associates

truth with practical results.
Pragmatism
John Dewey

• He was born in Burlington, Vermont

in 1859. Grew up in a merchant-
class family in New England,
influence mainly by his religious
mother.

• Taught high school before taking up

studies at John Hopkins.

• Earned Ph.D. in 1884

• His popularity as a philosopher and

psychologist increased while he
taught at various universities.
Pragmatism
Ethical Philosophy

• For Dewey, knowledge and practice are instruments of doing good.

He believes that theories must be put into action and should yield
desirable and predictable consequences.

• He was convinced that man can solve social problems and create
an ideal society through education.
Pragmatism
Business Application

a. Business plans remain to be plans unless they are executed and

implemented.

b. Pragmatism as a philosophy has been associated with “anything

goes approach” in business.

c. Pragmatism as a philosophy seems to imply that the right solution

to any problems becomes the practical solution and therefore, the
moral solution.

d. In business decision making, the concept of “cash value” is

always considered.
Christian Ethics
Jesus Christ

• Through Lord Jesus Christ did not

right anything, but through the Bible
we can follow how he teaches his
ethical idea.

a. The ethics of Jesus shows

more preference to the poor
and the oppressed.

b. The ethics of Jesus is an

ethics of love.

c. The ethics of Jesus demands

honesty and authenticity.
Christian Ethics
d. The ethics of Jesus is an ethics which teaches faith in the
Father.

e. The ethics of Jesus is an ethics that espouses peace and

reconciliation.

f. The ethics of Jesus demands sacrifice and suffering.

• The ethics of Jesus, indeed, manifest a preferential option for

the poor, the abandoned, the disadvantage, the unprivileged,
the persecuted, the exploited, and the oppressed. To them,
Jesus promises heaven as their reward. The ethical ideal
emphasized by Jesus is for them to bear their lot and developed
as sense of hope for their glorious future.
Christian Ethics
St. Augustine

• The focal point of his moral

imperative is God. He believed that
God is the starting point and the
terminal point if very thing in
existence.

• Augustine is so resolved in his

conviction that it is man who
authors evil and not God. Evil for
him is the negation or absence of
good.
Christian Ethics
• In Augustinian ethics, human acts are nothing else but gestures
of man’s free will.

• For Augustine, to be good is to desire for God. In sum,

Augustine’s understanding of God as love drives him to take
love as the basis and central point of his ethics.
Christian Ethics
St. Thomas of Aquinas

• For Aquinas, the connatural virtues

and supernatural virtues will equip
man with the necessary
requirements towards man’s well-
being here on earth as well as his
eternal life in heaven.

• These virtues include faith, hope,

and love will help man attain
Beatific Vision – for salvation in
which man sees God face to face.
Christian Ethics

• According to Aquinas, “every agent acts for an end”. Human

actions are always geared towards ends. When these ends are
attained, they also become the means for the attainment of the
other ends. For example, A eats. The end of A why he eats is to
satisfy hunger. But when A has eaten already, A make use of
energy brought about by the food he ate. Thus, he achieved
end of A becomes the means of A’s attainment of further ends.
Christian Ethics
Business Application

a. Ideally, Christian Ethics is based on the teachings of Jesus

Christ, should promote the ultimate standard when
benchmarking business decisions. However, for some
reasons, businessmen do not at all times promote and uphold
Christian virtues.

b. The Principle of Stewardship should remind business decision

makers that the earth’s resources are not constant and
therefore being responsible in its usage is a way of respecting
the natural order of things as planned by God Himself.
ACTIVITY NO. 5

Research Assignment

1. What is the ethical teachings of Buddhism?

2. Name some business application of

Buddhism?