Browsing by Author "Gallego Salvador, Francisco"

The present Thesis explores the possibility of applying a virtue ethics framework, based upon the Aristotelian tradition, into business ethics. The purpose of the Thesis is twofold: to give an overview of virtue ethics through Richard Taylor’s portrait and to offer a specific account of virtue ethics focused on the business realm. The examination of this virtue ethics proposal is largely founded on Robert C. Solomon’s works, which constitute the cornerstone of this Thesis. However, the critical nature of this examination requires serious criticism of both Taylor’s account of virtue ethics as well as of Solomon’s main articles and books on the topic under scrutiny. Remaining critical includes pointing out the existing flaws in their proposals. Ultimately, the aim is to show how a reinterpretation of Aristotle and virtue ethics can result in a pluralistic account of business ethics. Such interpretation, which revolves around the notion of ‘ethical styles’, is derived from Nietzsche’s understanding of the uniqueness of virtues. Attention to circumstances and flexibility characterize an ethical approach that, this Thesis will contend, is better suited than the traditional utilitarian and Kantian traditions for answering contemporary ethical business dilemmas. Eventually, reinterpreting the virtue ethics tradition will make new space for ethical solutions and discourses to emerge. An example of such a theory is offered in this Thesis. A tripartite approach, based on J. Thomas Whetstone’s account, will stress that there is no reductive conception that can reflect the complexity of our moral existence. Rather, a combination of the different existing traditions will result in the figure of the servant leader as the ideal towards which board members and executives should strive. An analysis of the function of those expressions used to define business will also play a major role in this Thesis. The ever-growing presence of influential corporations in contemporary markets and social scenarios should alert the reader that it is in society’s hands to change the course of humanity and to lead the present towards a more humane and ethical future.