What Makes a Business Ethicist? A Reflection on the Transition from Applied Philosophy to Critical Thinking

This article discusses the transition that business ethics has undergone since its start essentially as a philosophical sub-discipline of applied ethics. Today, business ethics—as demonstrated by four examples of gatekeepers—is a well-established field in general management, and increasingly busines...

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Bibliographische Detailangaben
1. VerfasserIn: Seele, Peter 1974- (VerfasserIn)
Medienart: Elektronisch Aufsatz
Sprache:Englisch
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Veröffentlicht: Springer Science + Business Media B. V 2018
In: Journal of business ethics
Jahr: 2018, Band: 150, Heft: 3, Seiten: 647-656
weitere Schlagwörter:B Field maturation
B Business Ethics
B General Management
B Applied philosophy
B Business Ethicist
B Mainstreaming
B Discipline
B Philosophy
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Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:This article discusses the transition that business ethics has undergone since its start essentially as a philosophical sub-discipline of applied ethics. Today, business ethics—as demonstrated by four examples of gatekeepers—is a well-established field in general management, and increasingly business scholars without a “formal” background in philosophy are entering the scene. I take this transition to examine an updated positioning of business ethics and offer a proposal to redefine what makes a business ethicist. I suggest taking critical thinking as the common denominator of all business ethics activities beyond the academic silos of various disciplines. In conclusion, by borrowing from the post-colonial theorist Edward Said, this article offers a definition of what makes a business ethicist in the broadest possible sense. Implications are discussed, including the consequences suggesting that if critical thinking is the common denominator, business ethics-as-business-case logic is not considered a part of business ethics publications (except discussing the ethicality of business ethics-as-business-case), but should be addressed within more instrumental publication outlets of business.
ISSN:1573-0697
Enthält:Enthalten in: Journal of business ethics
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1007/s10551-016-3177-8