Marxism and Business Ethics

I explain how a Marxist would understand and respond to the phenomenon of business ethics. In Section I, I maintain that a Marxist would supplement traditional explanations of the increased interest in business ethics by an emphasis on class needs created by a situation of declining profits. I argue...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of business ethics 1982-11, Vol.1 (4), p.301-312
Main Author: Massey, Stephen J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bourgeois
Business ethics
Businesspeople
Capitalism
Corporate responsibility
Corporations
Defective products
Ethical codes
Marxian economics
Marxism
Middle class
Morality
Universities
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Summary:I explain how a Marxist would understand and respond to the phenomenon of business ethics. In Section I, I maintain that a Marxist would supplement traditional explanations of the increased interest in business ethics by an emphasis on class needs created by a situation of declining profits. I argue, in Section II, that business ethics might be used to address two needs created by this situation: (1) to legitimate the system of capitalist production: and (2) to discipline individual members of the bourgeoisie so that they will refrain from pursuing their individual interests when these conflict with the interests of their class. In Section III, I argue that there is no guarantee that business ethics will develop to meet these class needs, and that the questions to which an interest in business ethics gives rise may themselves lead to serious and effective criticism of business.
ISSN:0167-4544
1573-0697
DOI:10.1007/BF00382819