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Ethical Theories in Finance

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Ethical Theories
Sheri Wernert
BUS 670: Legal Environment
Professor Gentry
December 19, 2010 Ethical Theories In every day life a person is bound to have ethical issues that must be decided. This is also true for the business world. With cases evolving each day of unethical companies such as Enron ethics is now being viewed as an important part of training for many companies. Which ethical theory to follow depends on the individual and there are many theories to be considered. How does a person tell what theory they believe they follow? Knowing the different theories and how they are viewed are key. Ethical theories are either teleological or deontological which can then be broken down further. Deontological …show more content…

By doing this the decision maker must have knowledge of the rights and justice theories so that they are aware of the rights protected by these theories. If a business abides by this theory without entering into illegal acts the business will probably benefit with profits. However, if they act illegally it could mean lost profits due to consumers and stockholders not trusting the company and withdrawing or boycotting the business. Virtue ethics, which has not been discussed within the reading, refers in general to relatively stable, praiseworthy qualities in a person, such as honesty or integrity. Virtues have to do with who a person is rather than the act and the excellence of the person’s qualities (Tjelveit, 2003). This theory is one of the oldest normative traditions in Western philosophy, which were later called cardinal virtues. The virtue theory emphasizes moral education since virtuous character traits are developed in one’s youth. Therefore, adults are the responsible ones to instill this theory among the young. An adult must also remember that most children learn by seeing therefore, if an adult wants to instill these ethical virtues they must also abide by them themselves. In conclusion, while there are many ethical theories the theories themselves interact with each other in one way or another. It can be said that in reality no theory can stand on alone. A person can say they fall under one ethical theory when in fact

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