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A Philosophical Perspective on Corporate Codes of Ethics

Crisis and Opportunity in the Professions

ISBN: 978-0-76231-261-0, eISBN: 978-1-84950-378-5

Publication date: 6 December 2005

Abstract

Beginning with the premise that large corporations are legal entities but not members of the moral community, the paper examines how “corporate ethics codes” might facilitate ethical actions by employees. “Wide reflective equilibrium” is explored as a way of creating “corporate ethics codes.” I suggest how a wide reflective equilibrium mediated ethics code might be utilized to suffuse ethics throughout an organization. Before exploring how wide reflective equilibrium might facilitate the development and use of corporate ethics codes to promote ethical actions by members of a company, I consider another vision of a corporate code of ethics. Some proponents of such codes may reject my description of this alternative model as unrepresentative of their work, but I question their reasons for doing so. I call this alternative approach “The Ten Commandments” model, and I argue that any approach to developing a corporate code of ethics that is consistent with this model is unlikely to promote ethics throughout an organization – and may actually have the opposite effect.

Citation

Roper, J.E. (2005), "A Philosophical Perspective on Corporate Codes of Ethics", Pava, M.L. and Primeaux, P. (Ed.) Crisis and Opportunity in the Professions (Research in Ethical Issues in Organizations, Vol. 6), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 193-204. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1529-2096(05)06011-6

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2005, Emerald Group Publishing Limited