Modern Values - Content and Contributors

There are interdependences between the market economy and more general values in modern European societies. In this article, I will discuss the contribution of both theory and more practical morals of the market. Another source of influence on values is the unselfishness demanded by religion and honored by most philosophers. I will discuss whether this demand is positive. There is a danger of trivialization of ethics into a public-relations discourse, which reduces its function as an aid in dilemmas and as a serious constraint on behavior. An agent-neutral universalism is often suggested, but for companies with ambitions of setting norms, a more particularistic ethics is of interest. An appropriate theory to this is largely missing and many important issues are treated as juridical rather than ethical matters. There are reasons for business and economic ethics to reconsider the usefulness of conventional ethics, as it might be less a part of the solution than a part of value problems of modern societies.