This book introduces a study of ethics and values to develop a deeper understanding of markets, business, and economic life. Its distinctive features include a thorough integration of personal and institutional perspectives; applied ethics and political philosophy; and philosophy, business, and economics.
Part 1 introduces a study of markets, property rights, and law. Part 2 examines the purpose and responsibilities of corporations. Parts 3 and 4 analyze economic life through the ethics and values of welfare and efficiency, liberty, rights, equality, desert, personal character, community, and the common good.
This third edition maintains the strengths of previous editions – short, digestible chapters and engaging writing that explains challenging ideas clearly. The material is easily adaptable with suggested course outlines, separable chapters, and flexible applications to case studies. This book is designed for interdisciplinary programs in philosophy, politics, and economics (PPE), as well as courses in business ethics.
Updates to the third edition include:
addition of a new introductory chapter on the value of an ethical life coverage of AI developments, including copyrights and patent implications, social media companies and CSR, ethical differences between AI and human personality, and impacts on meaningful work
integration of recent scholarship, bringing discussions and references up to date improvement of the writing across all chapters, making the book easier to read
addition of new material on the is-ought gap in Chapter 1 with revised discussion of personal and institutional points of view
editing and repositioning of consequentialist and deontological ethics in Chapter 3 revision of appendix for instructors that includes different syllabi possibilities for different types of courses
The eBook of the third edition now includes hyperlinks (1) between when a term is first used in the main text and its definition in the Glossary and (2) between germane sections when they are cross-referenced.
Steven Scalet is Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Hoffberger Center for Ethical Engagement at the University of Baltimore, USA. Prior to Baltimore, Scalet was Director of the Program in Philosophy, Politics, and Law at Binghamton University (SUNY), USA, where he received the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. Scalet received his PhD in philosophy and MA in economics from the University of Arizona, USA. Scalet is the author of many articles and the editor of Morality and Moral Controversies: Readings in Moral, Social, and Political Philosophy, 10th Edition (Routledge, 2019).
By:
Steven Scalet (University of Baltimore)
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Edition: 3rd edition
Dimensions:
Height: 254mm,
Width: 178mm,
ISBN: 9780367704629
ISBN 10: 0367704625
Pages: 306
Publication Date: 20 January 2025
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Primary
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming
0 The Value of an Ethical Life 0.1 Introduction 0.2 Why Study Ethics? 0.3 Skepticism and Ethics 0.4 Values as Guidance 0.5 Summary Discussion Questions Further Readings Part 1 Foundations 1 Markets 1.0 Introduction 1.1 What Are Market Exchanges? 1.2 Why Begin This Study With Market Exchanges? 1.3 Debates About How to Define Markets 1.4 Blocked Exchanges 1.5 Background Conditions for Markets to Operate 1.6 Summary 1.7 Looking Ahead Discussion Questions Further Readings Appendix: Dialogues That Shape This Book 1.A1 Descriptive and Normative Analysis 1.A2 Personal and Institutional Points of View Discussion Questions Further Readings 2 Property Rights 2.0 Introduction 2.1 Property as Relations Among People 2.2 Hohfeld’s Conception of Property Rights 2.3 Tips for Learning and Applying Property Relations 2.4 Ownership and a Bundle of Sticks 2.5 Further Distinctions 2.6 Patents and Intellectual Property 2.7 The Limits of Property Rights 2.8 Summary Discussion Questions Further Readings 3 Property Rights, Markets, and Law 3.0 Introduction 3.1 Property Rights and Markets 3.2 Property Rights and Law 3.3 Property Rights and Culture 3.4 Economic Systems Today 3.5 Why Study Property Rights? 3.6 Relativism 3.7 Two Normative Theories About Property Rights 3.8 Summary 3.9 Looking Ahead Discussion Questions Further Readings Part 2 The Purpose and Responsibilities of Corporations 4 Shareholder Primacy Theory of Corporations 4.0 Introduction 4.1 A Debate 4.2 Corporate Purpose: Advance Shareholder Interests By Maximizing Profits Within the Law 4.3 Debates About Shareholder Rights and Managerial Duties 4.4 Ethical Justifications 4.5 Interpreting the CSR Movement From the Shareholder Perspective 4.6 Separating the Roles of Business and Government 4.7 Self-Interest and Markets 4.8 Summary Discussion Questions Further Readings 5 Stakeholder Theory of Corporations 5.0 Introduction 68 5.1 A Global Perspective: “All Is Not Well” 68 5.2 Corporate Purpose, Stakeholder Rights, and Managerial Duties 70 5.3 Ethical Justifications 74 5.4 Interpreting the CSR Movement From a Stakeholder Perspective 76 5.5 Corporations and Government 78 5.6 Ethics, Self-Interest, and Markets 79 5.7 Personal and Institutional Points of View Revisited 81 5.8 Other Theories of Corporate Purpose 83 5.9 Corporate Personhood 83 5.10 Summary 84 Discussion Questions 85 Further Readings 87 Part 3 Efficiency and Welfare: Common Ethical Guides in Business and Economics 6 Efficiency and Welfare 6.0 Introduction 6.1 Pareto Efficiency as an Ethical Ideal 6.2 How Idealized Markets Create Efficiency Gains 6.3 Background Conditions 6.4 How Actual Markets Approximate Ideal Markets 6.5 How Efficiency Is a Basis for Criticizing Markets 6.6 The Ethical and Practical Appeal of the Efficiency Standard 6.7 Complications About the Meaning of Efficiency 6.8 Summary Discussion Questions Further Readings 7 Public Goods, Responsibility, and Utilitarianism 7.0 Introduction 7.1 Public Goods 7.2 Two Neighborhoods and a Park: A Public Goods Problem 7.3 The Tragedy of the Commons 7.4 Responsibility for Collective Action Problems 7.5 Limitations to Pareto Efficiency as a Normative Standard 7.6 Utilitarianism 7.7 Attractions and Limitations of Utilitarianism 7.8 Summary Discussion Questions Further Readings 8 The Invisible Hand: Ethics, Incentives, and Institutions 8.0 Introduction 8.1 The Invisible Hand Model 8.2 The Government Regulation Model 8.3 The Professional Ethics Model 8.4 Conflicts of Interest 8.5 The Dance Between Ethics, Incentives, and Institutions 8.6 Beyond Welfare 8.7 Summary Discussion Questions Further Readings Part 4 Ethics Beyond Efficiency 9 Liberty 9.0 Introduction 9.1 Two Concepts of Liberty 9.2 Freedom and Ethics 9.3 Kantian Ethics 9.4 Institutional Implications of Negative Freedom 9.5 Institutional Implications of Positive Freedom 9.6 Two Visions of a Free Society: Positive and Negative Freedom 9.7 Summary Discussion Questions Further Readings 10 Rights 10.0 Introduction 10.1 Preliminaries 10.2 Rights as Side-Constraints 10.3 Rights and Markets: Nozick’s Entitlement Theory of Justice 10.4 Applying the Entitlement Theory to Global Capitalism 10.5 Criticisms of Nozick’s Entitlement Theory of Justice 10.6 Justifying Rights 10.7 Summary Discussion Questions Further Readings 11 Equality 11.0 Introduction 11.1 Fundamental Equality 11.2 Implications for Institutions 11.3 Professional Ethics and the Personal Point of View 11.4 Social Contract Theory: Liberty and Equality Joined 11.5 Rawls’s Theory of Justice 11.6 Beyond Rawls: Businesses and the Social Contract 11.7 Integrative Social Contracts Theory 11.8 Summary Discussion Questions Further Readings 12 What People Deserve 12.0 Introduction 12.1 The Concept of Desert 12.2 Deserved Wages 12.3 Desert and Professional Ethics 12.4 Capitalism and Debates About the Relevance of Desert 12.5 Deserving Anything at All 12.6 Summary Discussion Questions Further Readings 13 Personal Relationships and Character 13.0 Introduction 13.1 Relationships 13.2 Criticisms of Markets and Capitalism Based on Relationships and Character 13.3 Virtue Ethics 13.4 Ayn Rand and Virtuous Rational Egoism 13.5 The Ethics of Care 13.6 Religious and Non-Western Ethical Approaches: Less of the Self 13.7 Integrating Earlier Debates on Relationships and Character 13.8 Advocating Markets and Capitalism Based on Relationships and Character 13.9 Summary Discussion Questions Further Readings 14 Community and the Common Good 14.0 Introduction 14.1 Creative Destruction and Community: Institutional Perspective 14.2 Change and Tradition From the Personal Point of View 14.3 Markets That Undermine Communities 14.4 Markets That Build Communities 14.5 The Meaning of the Common Good 14.6 Communitarianism 14.7 Justice and the Common Good: Complementary or Conflicting Values? 14.8 Summary Discussion Questions Further Readings Supplemental Materials I. A Primer on Ethics II. The Overall Approach of the Book III. Syllabi Suggestions IV.Summary Key Terms
Steven Scalet is Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Hoffberger Center for Ethical Engagement at the University of Baltimore, USA. Prior to Baltimore, Scalet was Director of the Program in Philosophy, Politics, and Law at Binghamton University (SUNY), USA, where he received the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. Scalet received his PhD in philosophy and MA in economics from the University of Arizona, USA. Scalet is the author of many articles and the editor of Morality and Moral Controversies: Readings in Moral, Social, and Political Philosophy, 10th Edition (Routledge, 2019).
Reviews for Markets, Ethics, and Business Ethics
""The third edition of Markets, Ethics, and Business Ethics offers a comprehensive introduction to the ethical, economic, and political study of markets, and of the people who affect and are affected by them. It speaks directly to students and readers, taking them on an intellectual journey through the diversity and complexity of ethical thought, without dumbing ideas down, or offering facile solutions. This latest edition extends itself to include current research discussions, such as the growth and implications of Artificial Intelligence in business. As such, it is an ideal text for students interested in philosophy, politics, and economics at both the undergraduate and graduate levels."" -Prof. David Silver, Chair of Business and Professional Ethics in the W. Maurice Young Centre for Applied Ethics, co-appointed to the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia, author of Corporations and Persons: A Theory of the Firm in Democratic Society (forthcoming) ""Markets, Ethics, and Business Ethics, Third Edition, is still the go-to introductory text for classes in business ethics and philosophy, politics, economics, and law programs. Professor Scalet raises all the right issues and ethical questions, and he’s always clear about why we’re asking these questions in the first place. The book’s integrative nature allows students to make connections between theory and practice in ways that will improve their own thinking and behavior in social and economic life."" -Terry L. Price, Coston Family Chair in Leadership and Ethics, Professor of Leadership Studies and PPEL, University of Richmond, USA ""Steve Scalet's Markets, Ethics, and Business Ethics is the first business ethics textbook to take seriously the relationship between business, economics, and political theory. By setting the questions of business ethics in a broader context this book has improved student understanding and deliberation of the important issues it addresses.This is by far the best and most practically valuable business ethics text I have encountered."" -Prof. Clark Wolf, Professor of Philosophy and Political Science, Director of Bioethics, and Chair of Graduate Program in Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University, USA
