Synonyms
Aristotle; Business ethics; Leadership; Virtues
Introduction
Aristotle’s view on ethics is rooted in the role of virtues in life and suggests that, once a person lives life with the goal of happiness in mind, that is, being a good person and living a virtuous life, then that person will be inclined to make ethical decisions. Aristotle’s focus on a person’s virtues is distinct from other ethical theories, such as utilitarianism and deontology, that propose general rules or principles for moral actions (Sim 2010). Virtue ethics has its foundation in developing and acquiring virtues as the main goal of moral life. It can be traced back to Greek philosophy, particularly to Aristotle, who regards a virtue as a purposive disposition. “Disposition” indicates that a virtue is not a feeling that one has or an action that one has to take; rather, it is how we are inclined to be. As such, it stands to reason that, once we possess a certain virtue, we will always have a tendency to act...
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Horak, S. (2023). Aristotelian Business Ethics. In: Poff, D.C., Michalos, A.C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Business and Professional Ethics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22767-8_1282
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