Ethicsdaily.com

I ran across the Ethicsdaily web site while checking for new commentary from the Associated Baptist Press. (I mentioned this in an earlier posting.) I went to the web site and read many of the editorial content, sermons, etc. It’s a good site. Obviously, it is Christian advocacy. I have no trouble, whatsoever with this (being a Christian myself), but that’s not what I am doing here. I am dealing with business ethics. So, after careful search, I discovered that there is material on the site that applies Christian ethics to business. That is very important to me. I strongly, strongly believe that religion has a great deal to tell us about morality and to provide us with guidance to make good decisions. I believe there should be religious component to all business ethics textbooks.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t want business ethics textbooks that attempt to convert people to one religion or another. What I do want is the Protestant, Catholic, Jewish and Islamic teachings on business ethics to be taught to business students as legitimate choices of moral guidance.

So, there will on this web site, discussions of and links to articles from Ethics Daily, but only those with a great deal of relevance to business. There is great number of articles on the site but I only think that four or five a month are likely to be on point.

I’m telling you this because I am trying to put the best stuff on business ethics I can find on this site. It is not a small task and I suspect that I will make many mistakes as to who should be talked about, etc. But, here I am, putting this right out in the open, so that you know that I do think about these things, that I do have to work at this and I do respect and appreciate the thoughts of others in making these decisions.

I want to make a better world. I think if I can collect good business ethics writing and put it on this site regularly that maybe, just maybe, more people will read it, think about it and use it. (I like to think I have significant things to say as well but you probably gathered that.)

I want to do the right thing. I want to do this as well as my powers of judgment allow. If you want to advise me and help me make these choices, charge right in. I don’t mind intelligent criticism.

Okay?

James Pilant

Ethics Round Up – June 2nd 2010

THE BEST ETHICS WRITING ON THE WEB (In my opinion) June 2nd

The invaluable Alain Sherter writing on B Net discusses the rating agencies.

Loren Steffy from the Houston Chronicle discusses the costs of the current off shore oil ban in the gulf. (I freely admit this article does not seem ethics based but Loren Steffy’s content is heavily ethics laden, and I lay good odds he’s working up a good head of steam to smack down some wrong doing in a column.)

Chris MacDonald has a new one today discussing the many ethical facets of international trade. (I’ll probably be writing more about this one, but he included a pdf article about “adversarial ethics in business” and I think I should work through it before making a comment.)

Bob Allen writing in the Associated Baptist Press tells of Robert Parham’s contention that the gulf spill is a moral issue. (I went and took a look at Robert Parham’s Baptist Center for Ethics. Once I get a good feel for the organization I will write about it.)

Jon Talton’s blood is up at the Seattle Times with very few kind words for the President. He’s writing about Warren Buffett and rating agencies but I think the most important thing in the article is his opinion about the President’s policies.

Jay Hancock of the Baltimore Sun discusses the Great Recession and mental depression. (Hancock is more of a consumer advocate than an ethicist.)

Edward Lotterman writing for TwinCities.com covers the subject of professional sports and monopolization with a definite ethical tone and (speaking as a lawyer) an excellent grasp of the legal issues.

David Moon writing for Knoxville.biz points out with tongue in cheek that corporate annual reports make good fiction reading. But more than funny there are some good insights here.

Jeffrey Seglin on his blog, The Right Thing, discusses the ethics of underpaying a newspaper box. (This guy’s internet foot print is bigger than an elephant’s.)

A little video on Aristotle’s ethical views -