Exam 2: Business Ethics and the Social Responsibility of Business

Nineteen-year-old Martin was raised in a good, Christian home and attended parochial school through eighth grade. Martin is a good student and citizen who conforms to the expectations of his church, family, and peers. He does so because he loves his family and church, is loyal to them, and trusts them. Under Kohlberg's schematic analysis, Martin is most likely at what stage of moral development?

Which of the following does not describe the libertarian social ethics theory?

The type of moral equality espoused by John Rawls is:

In 2002, Congress passed what legislation seeking to prevent business scandals by increasing corporate responsibility through imposing additional corporate governance requirements on publicly held corporations?

Compare the social ethics theories of distributive justice and libertarianism. How are they alike? How are they different? Explain your answer.

Under which ethical system would it be ethical to compel a few citizens to undergo painful or fatal medical tests in order to develop cures for the rest of the world?

Intuitionism holds that rational persons possess inherent powers to assess the correctness of actions.

Not everything that is legal is also morally correct.

Although discussions have occurred, thus far legislators have not passed any statutes which seek to prevent corporate misconduct and increase corporate responsibility.

Most philosophers now agree that people can discover fundamental ethical rules by applying careful a priori reasoning.

Discuss which of the social ethics theories listed below you most agree with and why. Discuss your reasons for disagreeing with the others. a. Distributive justice b. Social egalitarianism c. Libertarianism

One criticism of utilitarianism is that it ignores justice in some important instances.

Adam Smith, in The Wealth of Nations, said the capitalistic system was composed of institutions which include all but which of the following?

Deontological theories assess good and evil in terms of the consequences of actions rather than by the motives that lead to them.

Harvard philosopher John Rawls stressed liberty as the most important obligation owed by a society to its members.

A common criticism of ethical relativism is that it:

Bill would like to propose to the board of directors of Midway Corporation that it distribute five percent of its pre-tax yearly income to feed the poor. To Milton Friedman and others, Bill's proposal might be considered unethical, because it violates the purpose for which the corporation was established.

Ethical relativism holds that when any two individuals or cultures differ regarding the morality of a particular issue or action, they are both correct because morality is relative.

Situational ethics is essentially the same as ethical relativism.

The definition of the doctrine of ethical relativism includes: