Abstract
Some writers suggest that corporations should act in ways which reflect a broad concern for the well-being of others, as opposed to a more narrow (Libertarian) conception of responsibility. But this Broad View of moral responsibility puts us on a collision course with our considered intuitions about paternalistic acts. This paper discusses several aspects of this issue: the neutrality of the Standard View of Paternalism, the nature of the defenses of paternalistic interventions allowed by the Standard View of Paternalism and their reliance on consent; and the sort of position on paternalism the Board View would have to endorse in order to justify the benevolence-motivated orientation required by its conception of moral responsibility.
The conclusion is that unless we are prepared to take a different, non-standard view of paternalism the Board View of corporate moral responsibility will be untenable.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Dworkin, G.: 1971, 'Paternalism', in R. Wasserstrom (ed.), Morality and the Law (Wadsworth, Belmont).
Dworkin, G.: 1988, The Theory and Practice of Autonomy (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge).
Feinberg, J.: 1983, 'Legal Paternalism', in R. Sartorius (ed.), Paternalism (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis).
Feinberg, J.: 1986: Harm to Self (Oxford University Press, New York and Oxford).
Frankfurt, Harry G.: 1971, 'Freedom to the Will and the Concept of a Person', Journal of Philosophy LXVIII.
Friedman, M: 1970, 'The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits', The New York Times Magazine.
Green, T. H.: 1983, 'Liberal Legislation and Freedom of Contract', in R. L. Nettleship (ed.), The Works of T. H. Green, Vol. III (Longmans, Green, London).
Hunter, Ian, 1992: 'When Human Rights Become Wrongs', in Cragg, W., Contemporary Moral Issues, 3rd ed. (McGraw-Hill Ryerson, Toronto).
Martin, R. M., 1991: The Philosophic Dictionary (Broadview Press, Peterborough).
Michalos, Alex C., 1991: 'Moral Responsibility in Business or Fourteen Unsuccessful Ways to Pass the Buck', in D. C. Poff and W. J. Waluhcow (eds.), Business Ethics in Canada, 2nd ed. (Prentice-Hall, Scarborough).
Nozick, R.: 1974, Anarchy, State, and Utopia (New York: Basic Books).
Savan, Beth: 1989, 'Beyond Professional Ethics: Issues and Agendas', Journal of Business Ethics 8, 179–185.
Sidgwick, Henry: 1981, The Methods of Ethics, 7th edition (Hackett Publishing Company. Indianapolis).
Smart, J. J. C.: 1991, 'Distributive Justice and Utilitarianism', in John Arthur and William Shaw, Justice and Economic Distribution, 2nd edition (Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs).
VanDeVeer, Donald: 1986, Paternalistic Intervention: the Moral Bounds of Benevolence (Princeton University Press, Princeton).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Crossley, D. Paternalism and Corporate Responsibility. Journal of Business Ethics 21, 291–302 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005937807850
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005937807850