Cases versus Theory in Business Ethics: A Pragmatic Reconciliation

Abstract

of business ethics usually fall into one of two categories: those who emphasize abstract ethical theories embodying universal principles and apply these theories and their resulting principles to specific cases, and those who emphasize studying cases without any extensive theoretical background. The problem with the former is a very sterile and abstract approach to ethics that does not connect with the dynamics of the real world and makes ethics seem irrelevant to the complexities of the decisions facing managers. The problem with the latter approach is that it results in a “my opinion versus your opinion” type of analysis that leaves management decision makers without any theoretical framework with which to approach ethical issues.A way out of this dilemma is provided by classical American pragmatism, understood as a school of philosophical thought rather than the practical attitude said to be characteristic of American behavior. By rethinking the emergence of moral values and the nature of moral reasoning, pragmatism offers a theoretical framework which itself provides moral direction for the dynamics of case study approaches. Pragmatism emphasizes experimental inquiry and the use of moral imagination to resolve ethical issues. It also emphasizes concrete situations rather than abstract principles, and stresses the need for moral sensitivity to these situations. It does not involve an application of rules from “on high,” but focuses on the richness of unique situations and the need for moral attunement to a more fundamental level of human rapport.Within this context, moral reasoning involves an enhancement of the capacity to perceive moral dimensions of situations rather than a way of simplifying what is perceived. The human capacities that must be developed are creative intelligence in restructuring problem situations, the imaginative grasp of authentic possibilities arising within the situation, and sensitivity to “the other” and to the value dimension that pervades the fullness of human existence – capacities that give rise to the balancing of and choice among moral rules as working hypotheses, and to their ongoing reconstruction when needed. Thus, the pragmatic approach lends itself to the use of cases, but case analysis is done within a theoretical framework that involves a dynamic, bottom-up approach.