Ethical Theory and Business (7th Edition)

by Denis G. Arnold, Tom L. Beauchamp, Norman E. Bowie

Book Overview

This book presents a comprehensive anthology of readings, legal perspectives, and cases in ethics in business. Contrasting business ethics approaches, Regulation of business, Performance Monitoring.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0131116320
• ISBN13: 9780131116320
• Release Date: January 2004
• Publisher: Prentice Hall
• Length: 686 Pages
• Weight: 2.26 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 7.0" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Everything as Described

I received this product in just a few days and it was exactly as described. It wasn't a new book, but very good condition and usable. Thanks.

Fast shipping, Great Condition, Cheap Price

The book arrived fast, was in better condition than expected for a used book, and it was the lowest price I found anywhere. Thank you so much.

No Complaints

It's a book for school so how excited can I be? Otherwise it is great. Good condition. Just as promised.

A Critical Compendium

This book is a critical reader, and it's probably the most highly used text in business ethics today. Those who reviewed this book negatively sound like people looking for a fun, non-academic overview of the field. If so, this book isn't it. These are articles published in top academic journals, edited for readability, by scholars who are addressing the fundamental issues in a wide range of topics. It's meant to expose the span of the field and still give students (not light readers) exposure to contemporary literature that touches on the most salient points. It's meant to be a starting point to deeper research in any given topic. As such, the book is a complete success. B & B do a great job (here as in other ethics compendiums) of providing a framework that makes it easy for a professor to expose her students to the field in one swoop. They do a fine editorial job, stripping the articles of padding, and they work hard to keep the offerings up to date (passing on older articles that are superceded by fresh insights that touch on contemporary challenges and technologies; look for something relating to the corporate scandals of this last year in the next edition). If you are a student looking for an overview on business ethics, this book is the correct starting point. If you are someone looking for light reading about corporate corruption, with illustrations and full-color photos, stick to People magazine.

In Defense of Beauchamp and Bowie

I teach business ethics at the college level, and have found Ethical Theory and Business to be very helpful. Basically, B and B attempt to do three things, or so it seems to me. First, they offer an introductory essay, covering some of the main distinctions in both meta-ethics (e. g. whether morality is objective or subjective) and normative ethics. This essay is the weakest part of the book, I think, because they seem to offer caracatures of most relativist leaning views (e. g. egoism), and do not adequately criticize Kantian moral philosophy. But even so, the essay does explain many useful distinctions in philosophical ethical thought. Second, B and B offer both classic readings in Business Ethics (e. g. Milton Friedman), as well as really up to date readings, by many of the leaders in the field (e. g. R. Edward Freeman). This is quite a good selection of readings, although they have omitted a few classic essays (like Galbraith's 'The Dependence Effect'), and a few subjects which might have been useful, such as the question of whether one can attribute moral agency to corporations at all. Even so, B and B include more than any course in Business Ethics could cover. Third, B and B provide a Web site with excersizes and instructor aids. Depending on how much one uses the Web, this may be helpful too. So generally speaking, although no anthology is perfect, Beauchamp and Bowie have put together an admirable collection. There is a seventh edition coming out soon. Perhaps that one will be as good as this one.