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Putting the Law in Its Place: Business Ethics and the Assumption that Illegal Implies Unethical.

Authors :
Young, Carson
Source :
Journal of Business Ethics; Nov2019, Vol. 160 Issue 1, p35-51, 17p, 1 Diagram
Publication Year :
2019

Abstract

Many business ethicists assume that if a type of conduct is illegal, then it is also unethical. This article scrutinizes that assumption, using the rideshare company Uber's illegal operation in the city of Philadelphia as a case study. I argue that Uber's unlawful conduct was permissible. I also argue that this position is not an extreme one: it is consistent with a variety of theoretical commitments in the analytic philosophical tradition regarding political obligation (i.e. the moral duty to obey the law because it is the law). I conclude by showing why business ethicists would have a better rejoinder to the "dominant view" of business ethics associated with Milton Friedman if they dispensed with the assumption that illegal implies unethical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
01674544
Volume :
160
Issue :
1
Database :
Complementary Index
Journal :
Journal of Business Ethics
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
139438803
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-018-3904-4