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>Would you rather choose a company that doesn't comply with local laws? Absolutely. Companies and the individuals who make up companies should not comply with

by mindB 7y ago

>Would you rather choose a company that doesn't comply with local laws? Absolutely. Companies and the individuals who make up companies should not comply with unethical laws just as people at large should not comply with unethical laws. Ethics stands above the law.

reallydontask 7y ago
>Ethics stands above the law This is pretty naive Who decides what is ethical? I might think it's unethical to finance my government given its record of military adventures around the world. Does that mean that I'm off the hook on income tax?
- mindB 7y ago
  >This is pretty naive I think you may be misunderstanding me. Ethics stands above the law in that if ethics and law conflict, a person ought to do the ethical thing rather than the legal thing. It does not mean that people who disobey the law should be off the hook so long as they were obeying their own personal code of ethics. If this view is naive, then I believe most all work in moral philosophy is naive. I don't think there are any major viewpoints that would elevate obedience to the law as being a concern higher than ethical behavior. Do you think that the entire field of business ethics is bunk and can be reduced to the single maxim, "Follow the local law"? Is the code of ethics by which I would be required to abide[1] if I became a professional engineer an unnecessary restriction? [1] https://www.nspe.org/resources/ethics/code-ethics https://www.nspe.org/resources/ethics/code-ethics
Analemma_ 7y ago
If what was "unethical" was inscribed on stone tablets by God, then that would be a decent position. But I don't want companies deciding for themselves what is unethical; they are not unbiased actors and are incentivized to define "ethical" as whatever makes them the most profit. Do you want companies deciding for themselves that labor/environmental/financial regulations are unethical?

by mindB 7y ago

reallydontask 7y ago

>Ethics stands above the law This is pretty naive Who decides what is ethical? I might think it's unethical to finance my government given its record of military adventures around the world. Does that mean that I'm off the hook on income tax?

mindB 7y ago
>This is pretty naive I think you may be misunderstanding me. Ethics stands above the law in that if ethics and law conflict, a person ought to do the ethical thing rather than the legal thing. It does not mean that people who disobey the law should be off the hook so long as they were obeying their own personal code of ethics. If this view is naive, then I believe most all work in moral philosophy is naive. I don't think there are any major viewpoints that would elevate obedience to the law as being a concern higher than ethical behavior. Do you think that the entire field of business ethics is bunk and can be reduced to the single maxim, "Follow the local law"? Is the code of ethics by which I would be required to abide[1] if I became a professional engineer an unnecessary restriction? [1] https://www.nspe.org/resources/ethics/code-ethics https://www.nspe.org/resources/ethics/code-ethics

Analemma_ 7y ago

If what was "unethical" was inscribed on stone tablets by God, then that would be a decent position. But I don't want companies deciding for themselves what is unethical; they are not unbiased actors and are incentivized to define "ethical" as whatever makes them the most profit. Do you want companies deciding for themselves that labor/environmental/financial regulations are unethical?