The Moral Background : An Inquiry into the History of Business Ethics / Gabriel Abend.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Abend, Gabriel, author.

Series:

Princeton Studies in Cultural Sociology

Princeton Studies in Cultural Sociology ; 60

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Business ethics--History.

Business ethics.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (413 p.)

Edition:

Course Book

Place of Publication:

Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press, [2014]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In recent years, many disciplines have become interested in the scientific study of morality. However, a conceptual framework for this work is still lacking. In The Moral Background, Gabriel Abend develops just such a framework and uses it to investigate the history of business ethics in the United States from the 1850s to the 1930s.According to Abend, morality consists of three levels: moral and immoral behavior, or the behavioral level; moral understandings and norms, or the normative level; and the moral background, which includes what moral concepts exist in a society, what moral methods can be used, what reasons can be given, and what objects can be morally evaluated at all. This background underlies the behavioral and normative levels; it supports, facilitates, and enables them.Through this perspective, Abend historically examines the work of numerous business ethicists and organizations-such as Protestant ministers, business associations, and business schools-and identifies two types of moral background. "Standards of Practice" is characterized by its scientific worldview, moral relativism, and emphasis on individuals' actions and decisions. The "Christian Merchant" type is characterized by its Christian worldview, moral objectivism, and conception of a person's life as a unity.The Moral Background offers both an original account of the history of business ethics and a novel framework for understanding and investigating morality in general.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Introduction

1. The Moral Background

2. Ethics as a Business Proposition

3. Christian Motives

4. The Good of American Business

5. The Good of American Society

6. Standards of Practice

7. The Christian Merchant

Conclusion

Acknowledgments

Index

Backmatter

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 23. Mai 2019)

ISBN:

9781400850341

1400850347

OCLC:

870893025