In other words with his/her choice man is setting an example of what he/she thinks is the right thing to do

• Plato: People act immorally due to ignorance

Sartre” We always choose the good, and nothing can be good for us without being good for all”

• Anguish

• Abandonment

• Despair

ANGUISH: it derives from the weight of being responsible in our choices and to set examples for others on the basis of what we consider right

• ABANDONMENT: God does not exist and we have to face all consequences of this. It is not easy to find a priori Good or values (if there is no God). But then there is the necessity to face. Dostoevsky “If God does not exist, everything would be permitted”  This is the starting point of existentialism

• DESPAIR results from recognizing that there are many things in our life that we cannot control

• “There is no reality except in action”. You are the sum of your actions and accomplishments, not your dreams and desires

• Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986):

We can define ourselves as humans only through our interaction with others

Our existence can only have meaning in relationship to the existence of others

Albert Camus (1913-1960):

• The Stranger

• The Plague

• The Myth of Sisyphus

• The greatest challenge for each of us is to discover the meaning in this absurd world

Courage is the highest value to find the meaning of life

“Existentialism is not atheist in the sense that it would exhaust itself in demonstrations of the non-existence of God. It declares, rather, that even if God existed that would make no difference from its point of view. Not that we believe God does exist, but we think that the real problem is not that of His existence; what man needs is to find himself again and to understand that nothing can save him from himself, not even a valid proof of the existence of God. In this sense existentialism is optimistic. It is a doctrine of action, and it is only by self-deception, by confining their own despair with ours that Christians can describe us as without hope.”

ETHICS AND POLITICS

Niccolò Machiavelli

• He was born in 1469 in Florence

• Was a Second Chancellor of the Republic of Florence

• “Teacher of evil”= politicians should not have moral values and norms

The Prince (1513)

No moral basis on which to judge the difference between legitimate and illegitimate uses of power

• Authority and Power are coequal: “Since there cannot be good laws without good arms, I will not consider laws but speak of arms”

• Power defines political activity and the real point is HOW to use power

• The Highest Good: A free and well ordered state

• The need for stability in a prince’s state: at stake is its preservation

• The concept of virtue refers to personal qualities that contribute to the success of the prince and that are necessary to maintain the state a moral vice can well be a political virtue (for example, cruelty)

• Prudence: considering not only the short period, but the long period as well

• The wise ruler should possess the following

1) an ability to be both good and bad, both loved and feared

• 2) boldness, independence and self-control

• 3) a reputation for generosity, mercy, trustworthiness and piety

• The rule has to be independent of custom, nature, etc.

• The virtue of “liberality” (taking little from the population)

• Difference between cruelty and mercy

• Cruelty can be well used and badly used

Good cruelty is done once for self-defense, turned to the benefits to subjects

Perhaps there are two different kind of morality: one for common citizens (as private individuals) and another one for rulers

Varying her/his conduct from good to evil and back again “as fortune and circumstances dictate”  The Prince should be both a Lion and a Fox because different enemies require different skills

a prince may be perceived to be merciful, faithful, humane, frank, and religious, but he should only seem to have these qualities. A prince cannot truly have these qualities because at times it is necessary to act against them

Emmanuel Kant: Perpetual Peace

Morality is practical: the totality of unconditional mandatory laws  duty

“There can be no conflict of politics, as a practical doctrine of right, with ethics, as a theoretical doctrine of right.”

It is a duty of the moral politician to correct the defects in the constitution of a state, even it costs self-sacrifice, but slowly and carefully

First right means than good ends will follow, or in other words, only through the right means it will be possible to achieve good ends

STRENGHTS: Belief in a better world  idealism pushes toward action in order to improve conditions. Moral clarity and “objectivity”  because ordinary values and principles are a duty also for politics.

WEAKNESSES: Rigidity  once rights are in force they can not be taken away even if this means the ruin of the entire community.

Weber: Politics as Vocation

Definition of the state in terms of means: the state is a human community that (successfully) claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory

Three forms of legitimacy:

• Traditional (patriarch)

• Charismatic (individual leadership)

• Legal (servant of the state)

Three pre-eminent qualities of a politician:

1. Passion: devotion to a cause but not romanticism

2. Responsibility: guiding star

3. Sense of Proportion: distance toward one’s self (politics is made with the head)

Two deadly sins in the field of politics:

• Lack of objectivity

• Irresponsibility

Ethics in the field of politics needs to take into consideration that the means of politics is violence

Absolute ethics does not ask for the consequences

Just War Theory:

An Actual, Intentional and widespread armed conflict between political communities

Carl Von Clausewitz 1780–1831 (Prussia)

CLASSIC WAR

• Norms of War

• Limits In Space

• Limits In Time

• Recognized Actors

• Limited Means

When is it morally acceptable (or even required) to go to war?

Defense against aggression and “crimes against peace”

1. Just Cause:

Recognized as legitimate by its own people and by the international community

It does not violate other states’ rights

It makes efforts in order to satisfy its citizens’ human rights (safety, liberty, subsistence)

2) Right Intention: only for the just cause, not ulterior motives like power, economy, land, revenge

3) Proper Authority and Public Declaration: only a state (?) can go to war and only after a proper declaration

4) Last Resort: since war is the most destructive action (where conflicting interests are resolved through organized violence), any possible alternative solution should be seek before resorting to war

5) Probability of Success: no waste of human lives is permissible. States should not start a war if there is not a possibility (?) of changing the actual state of affaires

6) Proportionality: it is necessary to balance the expected goods against the expected evils

The right conduct during the war

1. Obey all international laws on weapons prohibitions

2. Discrimination and Non-Combatant Immunity: Target only those who are engaged in harm. No civilians.

The Doctrine of Double Effect

Rephrasing Michael Walzer:

The action in itself is good or at least indifferent, for example it is a legitimate act of war;

The direct effect is morally acceptable, for example the destruction of military supplies or the killing of enemy soldiers;

a) Only the good effect and not the evil effect is intended;

b) The good effect is not produced by means of the evil effect;

c) Conscious of the damage he can carry out, the actor tries to minimize it and accepts to personally pay the cost of this minimization

d) There is a proportionately grave reason for permitting the evil effect

3) Proportionality: no overreaction is allowed

4) Benevolent quarantine for POW (Prisoners of War): a fair treatment as recognized legitimate opponents

5) No Means Mala in Se: for example, rapes, genocide or ethnic cleansing…

6) No reprisals: no retaliation violating the jus in bello

The transition from War to Peace

1. Proportionality and Publicity

2. Rights Vindication

3. Discrimination (between civilians, leaders and soldiers)

4. Punishment (a) (punish the defeated country which violated the rights of war) This suppose that the winning country had not violated the laws of war (is this condition possible?)

5. Punishment (b) (punish any soldier who violated the laws of war from all the sides of the conflict) (The USA, Russia and China have not signed the Convention for the institution of the International Criminal Court)

6. Compensation (a small problem of precedents: Germany after the First World War)

7. Rehabilitation  forced democratization???

Business Ethics

Business ethics is the applied ethics discipline that addresses the moral features of commercial activity (e.g., marketing ethics, finance ethics, accounting ethics).

A Minimal Consideration:

We spend most of our time working, is it really possible to rule out ethics from such an important part of our lives?

A Foundational Matter:

Contract

• Remember the Correlativity of rights and duties à The right of a person implies the duties of another person

An incomplete list of some specific rights involved in business:

• Protection of life as employer, employee or consumer

• Opportunity to start a business or to qualify for employment

• Expectations toward the fair execution of a contract

• Employment security

An incomplete list of some specific duties involved in business:

• Truth telling

• Justice

• Fairness

• Honesty

• Privacy

• Respect of Contracts

1) The Competitive Approach:

Laissez-faire, Free enterprise, competition

2)The Government Control Approach:

Government ownership and/or control of all business and redistribution

3) Moderate Approach: a system of checks and balances in order to provide as much freedom as possible, but also to prevent corruption and concentration of power

At law, the corporation is a person, distinct in its personality from the persons who bear ownership shares in it (its shareholders) or conduct activities on its behalf (its directors, officers, and other employees).