Understanding Ethics From An Ethical Point Of View

Virtues of Character from an Ethical Point of View

Question:

Define in your own words what “the ethical point of view” means. Discuss the question/solutions/answers based on your personal experience and by citing additional resources found online or in other readings that support your position. Providing the link of the course is fine.

Ethical point of view primarily talks about virtues of the character rather than merely principles. Many philosophers in the last few decades have advocated it and so did Aristotle. Business ethicists were urged by Solomon to consider virtue from a serious point of view. They have enough reasons to hold discussions on the character as a whole apart from virtue. One may become an improved manager after having a deeper understanding of character from moral perspective.

It is okay if one is expecting rewards for being good. However, it shouldn’t give rise to the confusion to be good or not. There is no logic in persuading people to do good by talking about the rewards that could follow. One should have the inner realisation to be good based on the definition of the term. Good behaviour could be rewarding at times which itself gives the motivation. However, ethical point of view may be not the topic of discussion if it were primarily in one’s interest to be good all the time. It is quite simple to act selfishly and not care about obligations. Ethics are not always coinciding with self interest and that’s the reason people invented them (Asec 1998).

Ethics differ from self interest but business executives like to be assured that both of them are similar. A majority would like to believe that it is possible to achieve the finer things by being good. It signifies that by being ethical, one could be successful in any business venture. It cannot be denied that good deeds will lead to finer achievements in future. A company would like to do things from an ethical point of view to develop a solid reputation. It more often gives a better chance to have financial rewards in the long term. However, a good behaviour shouldn’t be measured in terms of the following tangible rewards.

There are two different categories of people. One of them will behave ethically for their own convenience and purpose. As soon as the rewards and incentives change, they are likely to go astray. The other category of people will behave ethically irrespective of situation and circumstances. Confusions may cloud the mind while understanding ethical point of view. To consider ethics for deriving motivation is like misunderstanding what they represent. It would be like learning about finance to find a way of making as much money as possible. The subject of finance never teaches the methods to get richer. It only shows the right direction to the reader.

This is quite similar with the ethics. It teaches the learner to be good assuming that he or she wants to stay good. One should know that it is possible to achieve the finer things by being good. It debates that ethical people go with an elevated risk of failure in a business venture. In terms of business, the managers aim to do something worthwhile with their lives and explore the possibilities to accomplish it through business. Here, business success and profit is seen as a way to achieve greater things (Econ 2001).         

References

Asec 1998, The role of character in business, accessed on 14^th January 2015.

Econ 2001, Processes and Consequences in Business Ethical Dilemmas: The Oil Industry and Climate Change, accessed on 14^th January 2015.