Key Terms
Ethics
Standards of behavior we hold ourselves accountable to in personal and professional life. Law: the MINIMUM standard soci
Virtue ethics
Ethical system built on character formation through exercise of virtues like loyalty, honor, and courage.
Telos
From the Greek word for "goal" or "aim"; the purpose or end something is designed to achieve.
Eudaimonia
Happiness as human flourishing; achieved through virtuous activity over time; not mere pleasure or contentment.
Thomas Aquinas later broke prudence into
Memory, reason, understanding, docility, shrewdness, foresight, circumspection, and caution.
Aristotle
"Magnanimity seems to be a sort of crown of the virtues."
Association
Business brought buyers, sellers, and officials into relationship with each other. Prudence kept those relationships hon
His solution
Return to li — the proper order of the universe in which everyone has a role and harmony exists. Expressed through ritua
Originally
A counterweight on a scale. Applied: weighing options in a moral dilemma to achieve fairness.
Standards already exist across industries
GAAP (accounting), International Standards Organization, International Financial Reporting Standards.
Aristotle and Confucius agreed
Education and training are the best tools for ethical transformation. Not compliance checklists.
Utilitarianism
All social morals and government legislation should aim for the GREATEST GOOD for the GREATEST NUMBER of people.
Four characteristics
1. Universal: applies to all human behavior 2.
Objective
Operates beyond individual perspective 3. Rational: not based in religion or metaphysics 4.
Utility function
Measure of value (in "utils") of a good, service, or action relative to the goal of maximizing happiness or minimizing p