IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/humman/v3y2018i2d10.1007_s41463-018-0046-x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

CSR - the Cuckoo’s Egg in the Business Ethics Nest

Author

Listed:
  • Matthias P. Hühn

    (Saint Vincent College)

Abstract

Corporate/collective moral responsibility is a thorny topic in business ethics and this paper argues that this is due a number of unacknowledged and connected epistemic issues. Firstly, CSR, Corporate Citizenship and many other research streams that are based on the assumption of collective and/or corporate moral responsibility are not compatible with Kantian ethics, consequentialism, or virtue ethics because corporate/collective responsibility violates the axioms and central hypotheses of these research programmes. Secondly, in the absence of a sound theoretical moral philosophical foundation, business ethicists have based their ideas on legal and political epistemologies, yet still claim to be ethics-based. Thirdly, research is often driven by an intention to prove that a specific social goal is right, not by open and critical inquiry. Finally, today, corporate/collective moral responsibility is widely accepted as the Truth as most researchers are unaware of any issues because they are untrained in philosophy. The paper identifies the confusion about the epistemic basis as a major impediment for delivering a thick concept of the role of corporations as moral agents. Thus, the paper does not argue against corporate or collective agency as such, but points out an obvious but forgotten paradox: corporate and collective personhood cannot, at the moment at least, be epistemologically grounded in the field in which business ethics claims to operate: moral philosophy.

Suggested Citation

  • Matthias P. Hühn, 2018. "CSR - the Cuckoo’s Egg in the Business Ethics Nest," Humanistic Management Journal, Springer, vol. 3(2), pages 279-298, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:humman:v:3:y:2018:i:2:d:10.1007_s41463-018-0046-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s41463-018-0046-x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s41463-018-0046-x
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s41463-018-0046-x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. John Hasnas, 2012. "Reflections on Corporate Moral Responsibility and the Problem Solving Technique of Alexander the Great," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 107(2), pages 183-195, May.
    2. Klonoski, Richard J., 1991. "Foundational considerations in the corporate social responsibility debate," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 9-18.
    3. Schudt, Karl, 2000. "Taming the Corporate Monster: An Aristotelian Approach to Corporate Virtue," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 10(3), pages 711-723, July.
    4. Peter Seele, 2018. "What Makes a Business Ethicist? A Reflection on the Transition from Applied Philosophy to Critical Thinking," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 150(3), pages 647-656, July.
    5. Raimo Tuomela, 2000. "Collective and joint intention," Mind & Society: Cognitive Studies in Economics and Social Sciences, Springer;Fondazione Rosselli, vol. 1(2), pages 39-69, September.
    6. John Hasnas, 2018. "Should Corporations Have the Right to Vote? A Paradox in the Theory of Corporate Moral Agency," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 150(3), pages 657-670, July.
    7. Hendry, John, 2001. "Missing the Target: Normative Stakeholder Theory and the Corporate Governance Debate," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 11(1), pages 159-176, January.
    8. Matthias Huhn, 2005. "What is management?," International Journal of Management Concepts and Philosophy, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 1(4), pages 290-315.
    9. Velasquez, Manuel, 2003. "Debunking Corporate Moral Responsibility," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 13(4), pages 531-562, October.
    10. Matthias Huehn, 2008. "Unenlightened Economism: The Antecedents of Bad Corporate Governance and Ethical Decline," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 81(4), pages 823-835, September.
    11. Claus Dierksmeier, 2013. "Kant on Virtue," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 113(4), pages 597-609, April.
    12. Phillips, Michael J., 1992. "Corporate Moral Personhood and Three Conceptions Of The Corporation," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 2(4), pages 435-459, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Miguel Aizola, 2005. "Responsabilidad Moral Colectiva. El estatus ontológico de las organizaciones y los límites de la comunidad moral," Revista de Economía y Estadística, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas, Instituto de Economía y Finanzas, vol. 43(1), pages 7-54, Junio.
    2. Vikram R. Bhargava, 2020. "Firm Responses to Mass Outrage: Technology, Blame, and Employment," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 163(3), pages 379-400, May.
    3. Tobey Scharding, 2019. "Individual Actions and Corporate Moral Responsibility: A (Reconstituted) Kantian Approach," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 154(4), pages 929-942, February.
    4. John Hasnas, 2018. "Should Corporations Have the Right to Vote? A Paradox in the Theory of Corporate Moral Agency," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 150(3), pages 657-670, July.
    5. Samuel Mansell & John Ferguson & David Gindis & Avia Pasternak, 2019. "Rethinking Corporate Agency in Business, Philosophy, and Law," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 154(4), pages 893-899, February.
    6. Eleanor Burt & Samuel Mansell, 2019. "Moral Agency in Charities and Business Corporations: Exploring the Constraints of Law and Regulation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 159(1), pages 59-73, September.
    7. David Dawson, 2018. "Organisational Virtue, Moral Attentiveness, and the Perceived Role of Ethics and Social Responsibility in Business: The Case of UK HR Practitioners," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 148(4), pages 765-781, April.
    8. Lamin B. Ceesay, 2020. "Exploring the Influence of NGOs in Corporate Sustainability Adoption: Institutional-Legitimacy Perspective," Jindal Journal of Business Research, , vol. 9(2), pages 135-147, December.
    9. Heugens, P.P.M.A.R. & Kaptein, S.P. & van Oosterhout, J., 2007. "Contracts to Communities: A Processual Model of Organizational Virtue," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2007-023-ORG, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
    10. Tim Mulgan, 2019. "Corporate Agency and Possible Futures," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 154(4), pages 901-916, February.
    11. Abul Kalam Azad, 2014. "How to Spot Business Ethics?," International Journal of Management Sciences, Research Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 3(8), pages 544-547.
    12. Gastón Reyes, 2023. "The All-Stakeholders-Considered Case for Corporate Beneficence," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 188(1), pages 37-55, November.
    13. Brian Berkey, 2021. "Sweatshops, Structural Injustice, and the Wrong of Exploitation: Why Multinational Corporations Have Positive Duties to the Global Poor," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 169(1), pages 43-56, February.
    14. Wei Wang & Dechao Ma & Fengzhi Wu & Mengxin Sun & Shuangqing Xu & Qiuyue Hua & Ziyuan Sun, 2023. "Exploring the Knowledge Structure and Hotspot Evolution of Greenwashing: A Visual Analysis Based on Bibliometrics," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-35, January.
    15. Alma Acevedo, 2012. "Personalist Business Ethics and Humanistic Management: Insights from Jacques Maritain," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 105(2), pages 197-219, January.
    16. Anne Vijver, 2022. "Morality of Lobbying for Tax Benefits: A Kantian Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 181(1), pages 57-68, November.
    17. Datta, Subhadeep & Mukherjee, Sourjo, 2022. "In families we trust: Family firm branding and consumer’s reaction to product harm crisis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 257-268.
    18. Allen Kaufman & Ernie Englander, 2011. "Behavioral Economics, Federalism, and the Triumph of Stakeholder Theory," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 102(3), pages 421-438, September.
    19. Joudi Dibsi & Jaeyoung Cho, 2023. "Data Management for Environmentally Sustainable and Profitable Business: Evidence from the Food Retail Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(23), pages 1-28, November.
    20. Ronald Paul Hill, 2020. "Freedom of the Will and Consumption Restrictions," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 164(2), pages 311-324, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:humman:v:3:y:2018:i:2:d:10.1007_s41463-018-0046-x. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.