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Putting the Law in Its Place: Business Ethics and the Assumption that Illegal Implies Unethical

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  • Carson Young

    (University of Pennsylvania)

Abstract

Many business ethicists assume that if a type of conduct is illegal, then it is also unethical. This article scrutinizes that assumption, using the rideshare company Uber’s illegal operation in the city of Philadelphia as a case study. I argue that Uber’s unlawful conduct was permissible. I also argue that this position is not an extreme one: it is consistent with a variety of theoretical commitments in the analytic philosophical tradition regarding political obligation (i.e. the moral duty to obey the law because it is the law). I conclude by showing why business ethicists would have a better rejoinder to the “dominant view” of business ethics associated with Milton Friedman if they dispensed with the assumption that illegal implies unethical.

Suggested Citation

  • Carson Young, 2019. "Putting the Law in Its Place: Business Ethics and the Assumption that Illegal Implies Unethical," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 160(1), pages 35-51, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:160:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1007_s10551-018-3904-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-018-3904-4
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Heather Hachigian, 2020. "Review of The Code of Capital: How the Law Creates Wealth and Inequality by Katharina Pistor," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 166(1), pages 197-201, September.
    2. M. Tina Dacin & Jeffrey S. Harrison & David Hess & Sheila Killian & Julia Roloff, 2022. "Business Versus Ethics? Thoughts on the Future of Business Ethics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 180(3), pages 863-877, October.
    3. Robert C. Hughes, 2022. "Regulatory Entrepreneurship, Fair Competition, and Obeying the Law," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 181(1), pages 249-261, November.
    4. Matthew Caulfield, 2021. "Pay Secrecy, Discrimination, and Autonomy," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 171(2), pages 399-420, June.

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