Consciously or not, throughout our lives we consolidate principles and beliefs that guide our actions. This happens through experiences and our reflection on them. In addition, much of what we experience depends on our social interactions, as we are naturally relational. This leads us to recognize the influence of contextual aspects on our personal ethics.
However, the issue is more complex when it comes to ethics in companies. In this context, we may come across different systems of values and beliefs, formalized or informal principles and conflicting preferences. Business ethics as a field of research links different sciences to three predominant ethical traditions in order to deal with these issues. Below, I briefly mention these perspectives and introduce virtue ethics.
Three ethical perspectives
Theoretically, there are at least three predominant ethical perspectives: (1) principialism, centered on rules or principles of action; (2) consequentialism, centered on the consequences or usefulness of actions; and (3) virtue ethics, centered on the human agent.
In practice, however, principles, rules, consequences and virtues appear together. Thomas Aquinas deeply understood that, in addition to the action itself, we must take into account the intentions of the agents and the circumstances involved. In the background there is also a notion of the good, such as the dignity of the human being.
Aristotelian-Thomistic ethics seems to be the most comprehensive perspective for understanding our actions. This perspective is not reduced to character traits and offers answers to principialism and consequentialism. For example, virtues such as courage and justice are needed to apply principles and rules wisely. Prudence and temperance, in turn, are needed both to understand the consequences of actions and to give up the immediate benefit for the long-term result. Cultivating virtues requires consistency, humility and a genuine desire to grow. Therefore, virtue ethics, as well as highlighting the human factor, offers a framework for examining actions.
Virtue ethics
Virtue ethics has its origins in ancient philosophy, both in the West and the East, and is still relevant today.
In the Aristotelian-Thomistic tradition, it comprises some essential notions: character, human nature and flourishing, practical wisdom and the common good. Together, these elements make it possible to understand someone’s moral experience and their growth in virtues.
Virtues are dispositions that enable us to act well as human beings. Moral virtue can be defined as the human inclination to feel, think and act in ways that express moral excellence, thus contributing to the common good (Newstead, Macklin, Dawkins, & Martin, 2018).
In addition to the moral virtues, other groups of virtues contribute to our conduct, such as the intellectual, theological and civic virtues.
It all starts with small acts or virtuous deeds, which consolidate into habits over time. Habits that are reiterated and repeated throughout life support a person’s character. Among the virtues considered cardinal are courage, temperance, justice and prudence.
Like any theoretical perspective, virtue ethics is not free from criticism. However, many of these objections have already been answered by moral philosophers.
Virtues of temperance and prudence
It is not my intention here to define each of these virtues, but only to illustrate some of them. Consider temperance or self-control, for example, in order to stop drinking soft drinks. Being temperate involves a greater effort at first, when we need to get used to other consumption options. Gradually, over time, it becomes easier to want what is best, and it is satisfying to know that you are succeeding. Reason tells us to choose the human good, in this case health. The same applies if you want to dedicate an hour to reading every day instead of an hour of distraction on social networks.
Although we can grow in virtues, we must avoid the vices that oppose them, which are distorted habits that delay our maturation.
Prudence, or practical wisdom, is crucial for choosing what is ethically good, based on reality (see the publication on the subject in Ames, Serafim, & Zappellini, 2020). In this way, we can direct actions towards ethical conduct and good governance. As previously stated, the examination of a moral action takes into account principles and rules, consequences and intentions, as well as the object of the action itself. This examination is an activity in which we apply practical wisdom. This intellectual virtue allows us to judge and deliberate on the best action considering the context and circumstances.
Conclusion
Many factors are at play in personal ethics and the challenges for ethical conduct in the organizational context are even greater. Principles, results and virtues are present in the reality we experience personally and professionally. In addition, the examination of actions in the context of companies takes into account the organizational environment and its influence on people’s conduct. For example, culture, leadership and relationships say a lot about the ethics experienced in a company.
Although this reality can be friendly or hostile to moral growth, this does not exempt each of us from our responsibility to act ethically. This is why virtue ethics seems to be the best perspective from which to approach moral experience in its entirety.
For companies, it is increasingly clear that good governance takes ethics into account, as organizations are communities of people involved in collaborative practices (MacIntyre, 2007). They are based on principles, rules and goods and depend on interactions that are contributive and not corrosive to the moral growth of their members. Since the organizational environment can influence people’s conduct beyond the market, companies play a crucial role in the ethical development of their teams.
References
Ames, M. C. F. D. C., Serafim, M. C., & Zappellini, M. B. (2020). Phronesis in Administration and Organizations: A literature review and future research agenda. Business Ethics: The Environement and Responsibility, 29, 65-83. https://doi.org/10.1111/beer.12296
MacIntyre, A. (2007). After virtue: A study in moral theory (3rd ed.). Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press.
Newstead, T., Macklin, R., Dawkins, S., & Martin, A. (2018). What is virtue? Advancing the conceptualization of virtue to inform positive organizational inquiry. Academy Management Perspectives, 32(4), 443-457. https://doi.org/10.5465/amp.2017.0162