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Virtuous Persons and Virtuous Actions in Business Ethics and Organizational Research

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  • Alzola, Miguel

Abstract

The language of virtue is gaining wider appreciation in the philosophical, psychological, and management literatures. Ethicists and social scientists aim to integrate normative and empirical approaches into a new “science of virtue.” But, I submit, they are talking past each other; they hold radically different notions of what a virtue is. In this paper, I shall examine two conflicting conceptions of virtue, what I call the reductive and the non-reductive accounts of virtue. I shall critically study them and argue that the non-reductive view is the best philosophical account of virtue and the only one that can account for the way we talk about virtue in business and in everyday life. We can only understand what it means to act virtuously through the examination of the attitudes, beliefs, desires, and inclinations of the virtuous agent. I shall illustrate the differences between the reductive and non-reductive accounts by considering the virtue of gratitude.

Suggested Citation

  • Alzola, Miguel, 2015. "Virtuous Persons and Virtuous Actions in Business Ethics and Organizational Research," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 25(3), pages 287-318, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:buetqu:v:25:y:2015:i:03:p:287-318_00
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    Cited by:

    1. Jonathan Keir & Bai Zongrang, 2018. "Rationality Meets Ren: beyond Virtue Catalogues for a World Business Ethos," Humanistic Management Journal, Springer, vol. 3(2), pages 187-201, December.
    2. Claudius Bachmann & Laura Sasse & Andre Habisch, 2018. "Applying the Practical Wisdom Lenses in Decision-Making: An Integrative Approach to Humanistic Management," Humanistic Management Journal, Springer, vol. 2(2), pages 125-150, February.
    3. Tae Wan Kim & Thomas Donaldson, 2018. "Rethinking Right: Moral Epistemology in Management Research," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 148(1), pages 5-20, March.
    4. Kevin T. Jackson, 2018. "Interpreting the Virtues of Mindfulness and Compassion: Contemplative Practices and Virtue-Oriented Business Ethics," Humanistic Management Journal, Springer, vol. 3(1), pages 47-69, July.
    5. Samanthala Hettihewa & Lori S. Kopp & Christopher S. Wright, 2019. "Ethics/Virtues and Consequences: An Exploratory Study of Regional Small Businesses in Developed and Emerging Countries," International Journal of Business and Economics, School of Management Development, Feng Chia University, Taichung, Taiwan, vol. 18(1), pages 17-40, June.
    6. Claudius Bachmann & André Habisch & Claus Dierksmeier, 2018. "Practical Wisdom: Management’s No Longer Forgotten Virtue," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 153(1), pages 147-165, November.
    7. Helen Nicholson & Ron Beadle & Richard Slack, 2020. "Corporate Philanthropy as a Context for Moral Agency, a MacIntyrean Enquiry," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 167(3), pages 589-603, December.
    8. Argandoña, Antonio, 2017. "Social Responsability and Ethics in Organizational Management," IESE Research Papers D/1163, IESE Business School.
    9. Lucas Amaral Lauriano & Juliane Reinecke & Michael Etter, 2022. "When Aspirational Talk Backfires: The Role of Moral Judgements in Employees’ Hypocrisy Interpretation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 181(4), pages 827-845, December.
    10. Robin Holt & Yutaka Yamauchi, 2023. "Ethics, Tradition and Temporality in Craft Work: The Case of Japanese Mingei," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 188(4), pages 827-843, December.
    11. Daryl Koehn, 2020. "How Would Confucian Virtue Ethics for Business Differ from Aristotelian Virtue Ethics?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 165(2), pages 205-219, August.
    12. Maria Clara Ames & Maurício Custódio Serafim, 2019. "Teaching-learning Practical Wisdom (Phronesis) in Administration: A Systematic Review," RAC - Revista de Administração Contemporânea (Journal of Contemporary Administration), ANPAD - Associação Nacional de Pós-Graduação e Pesquisa em Administração, vol. 23(4), pages 564-586.
    13. Irene Chu & Geoff Moore, 2020. "From Harmony to Conflict: MacIntyrean Virtue Ethics in a Confucian Tradition," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 165(2), pages 221-239, August.
    14. Wenjin Dai & Jonathan Gosling & Annie Pye, 2020. "The Inclusiveness and Emptiness of Gong Qi: A Non-Anglophone Perspective on Ethics from a Sino-Japanese Corporation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 165(2), pages 277-293, August.
    15. Karol Marek Klimczak & Alejo José G. Sison & Maria Prats & Maximilian B. Torres, 2022. "How to Deter Financial Misconduct if Crime Pays?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 179(1), pages 205-222, August.
    16. Argandoña, Antonio, 2017. "Humility and Decision Making in Companies," IESE Research Papers D/1164, IESE Business School.
    17. Guli-Sanam Karimova & Nils Christian Hoffmann & Ludger Heidbrink & Stefan Hoffmann, 2020. "Virtue Ethics Between East and West in Consumer Research: Review, Synthesis and Directions for Future Research," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 165(2), pages 255-275, August.

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