After reading the material in Theme 1 this week, I do not believe that corporations should be viewed as if they have a conscience. A corporation exists due to a large group of people (EthicPrereading, n.d). In order for this large group of people to follow rules and act according to code, a set of guidelines exist (EthicPrereading, n.d). These guidelines were created by people for people. The goal of a corporation is to create revenue, and while creating revenue and being ethical can happen at the same time, management/leaders are achieving that goal for the corporation, as well as (hopefully) holding up ethical/moral values in the process (EthicPrereading, n.d). This leads one to question of whether or not everyone will act ethically, and the answer is sadly, no. However, there is a set of rules and guidelines the corporation has to stand by, …show more content…
(Ring of Gyges: A Case for Injustice, 2009)
Kant's Theory: Challenged: The motivation behind their actions of being unjust would come into play, without even considering the consequences of these actions. (Ring of Gyges: A Case for Injustice, 2009)
Virtue Ethics: Challenged: Considering the prominent virtues (compassion, justice, honesty, etc.), Virtue Ethics would not justify unjust behavior regardless of reasoning. (Ring of Gyges: A Case for Injustice, 2009)
Overall, I believe Velasquez said it best: "We should stop humanizing [corporations] and recognize that whatever conscience, beliefs, actions, or rights we attribute to them are really the beliefs, actions, or rights of those who run the corporation" (Velasquez, 2014).
References
R. (n.d.). EthicPrereading. Retrieved November 16, 2017, from