Business Ethics Quarterly 22 (2):377-404 (2012)
Abstract |
To have a virtue is to possess a certain kind of trait of character that is appropriate in pursuing the moral good at which the virtue aims. Human beings are assumed to be capable of attaining those traits. Yet, a number of scholars are skeptical about the very existence of such character traits. They claim a sizable amount of empirical evidence in their support. This paper is concerned with the existence and explanatory power of character as a way to assess the possibility of achieving moral virtue, with particular attention paid to business context. I aim to unsettle the so-called situationist challenge to virtue ethics. In the course of this paper, I shall defend four claims, namely, that virtues are more than just behavioral dispositions, that at least some virtues may not be unitary traits, that psychologists cannot infer virtues from overt behavior, and that the situationist data do not account for the observational equivalence of traits. Since it rests on a misconception of what virtue is, the situationist objection remains unconvincing.
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Keywords | Applied Philosophy Business and Professional Ethics Social Science |
Categories | (categorize this paper) |
ISBN(s) | 1052-150X |
DOI | 10.5840/beq201222224 |
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References found in this work BETA
Freedom of the Will and the Concept of a Person.Harry G. Frankfurt - 1971 - Journal of Philosophy 68 (1):5-20.
Telling More Than We Can Know: Verbal Reports on Mental Processes.Richard E. Nisbett & Timothy D. Wilson~ - 1977 - Psychological Review 84 (3):231-59.
The Concept of Mind.Gilbert Ryle - 1949 - Revue Philosophique de la France Et de l'Etranger 141:125-126.
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Citations of this work BETA
In Search of Virtue: The Role of Virtues, Values and Character Strengths in Ethical Decision Making.Mary Crossan, Daina Mazutis & Gerard Seijts - 2013 - Journal of Business Ethics 113 (4):567-581.
The Just World Fallacy as a Challenge to the Business-As-Community Thesis.Matthew Sinnicks - 2020 - Business and Society 59 (6):1269-1292.
How Different is Neo‐Aristotelian Virtue From Positive Organizational Virtuousness?Alejo José G. Sison & Ignacio Ferrero - 2015 - Business Ethics: A European Review 24 (S2):78-98.
The Effect of Leadership Style, Framing, and Promotion Regulatory Focus on Unethical Pro-Organizational Behavior.Katrina A. Graham, Jonathan C. Ziegert & Johnna Capitano - 2015 - Journal of Business Ethics 126 (3):423-436.
Conceptualization and Measurement of Virtuous Leadership: Doing Well by Doing Good.Gordon Wang & Rick D. Hackett - 2016 - Journal of Business Ethics 137 (2):321-345.
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2012-09-18
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