Deontology
Introduction Using Deontological ethics this assignment will discuss personal experiences involving business ethical problems. I will draw from Kant’s categorical imperative to describe the situation, confrontation, and implications present throughout the problem.
Not long ago, my wife and I both wanted to earn extra income. After brainstorming several business ideas, we decided on creating a small home-based business focusing on candy. At the time my wife worked for a fortune 500 company and I for the military. We agreed to create an LLC; the business would focus on holidays, birthdays, and special occasions. What we didn’t know at the time was that the business would pose some business ethical questions shortly thereafter. A struggle between Kant’s moral philosophy of duty and good will versus the utilitarian aspect of maximizing happiness. One of the things we did was to begin a networking of friends; family and casual contacts to jump-start the business model in order to get exposure. This is where the ghosts of Deontology rose from the grave. My wife had a moral business contract with her company stating that she would not use her position or influence for personal profit. Some of our business audience was friends and casual contacts from work. The Deontological implication that crossed our minds was, is this ethical and if not, do we do the right thing? We weren’t stealing secrets, insider trading, committing theft of services or creating some money ponzi scheme. The question was, do we avoid them because it is wrong based upon the employer’s ethics contract? Were we bound to duty, regardless if it’s right or wrong? A strict Deontologist would not tell a lie in order to save a friend from an accident. This was the paradox I was facing. If we use our contacts from the people we know from work, we violate the ethics contract and my wife could get in trouble, if we don’t our business model takes a
Not long ago, my wife and I both wanted to earn extra income. After brainstorming several business ideas, we decided on creating a small home-based business focusing on candy. At the time my wife worked for a fortune 500 company and I for the military. We agreed to create an LLC; the business would focus on holidays, birthdays, and special occasions. What we didn’t know at the time was that the business would pose some business ethical questions shortly thereafter. A struggle between Kant’s moral philosophy of duty and good will versus the utilitarian aspect of maximizing happiness. One of the things we did was to begin a networking of friends; family and casual contacts to jump-start the business model in order to get exposure. This is where the ghosts of Deontology rose from the grave. My wife had a moral business contract with her company stating that she would not use her position or influence for personal profit. Some of our business audience was friends and casual contacts from work. The Deontological implication that crossed our minds was, is this ethical and if not, do we do the right thing? We weren’t stealing secrets, insider trading, committing theft of services or creating some money ponzi scheme. The question was, do we avoid them because it is wrong based upon the employer’s ethics contract? Were we bound to duty, regardless if it’s right or wrong? A strict Deontologist would not tell a lie in order to save a friend from an accident. This was the paradox I was facing. If we use our contacts from the people we know from work, we violate the ethics contract and my wife could get in trouble, if we don’t our business model takes a