Absolute Essay
“There really are [or are not] ‘absolutes’ upon which a universal truth can be based that can be applied for establishing ethical behavior in business.”
The world of business would be such a chaotic place sans universal truth that can be applied to establish ethical behavior. If they are no “absolutes” then everything else is relative; that state of being depends on how many factors and those factors include how one feels on a certain issue, the norms in a society that one lives in, the definition of right and wrong being subjective, and religious beliefs.
In the instance where an individual will act as they feel and not per universal absolute truth, then the individual may decide not to pay for the services rendered to them or merchandise that they procured because that is how the individual feels about the situation even if the renderer of service or seller may feel that they ought to be paid for their services or goods. They feelings in this case are only true to them and not the buyer as the buyer has a different feeling about the situation.
In the case where the norms of a society dictate the ethical behavior of a society, it would also mean that there is relative subjectivity to the whole notion of ethics as societies can have norms which are not at all right as seen in the case of the Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda. The Hutus were a majority (85%)of the population and through political propaganda they were incited to kill the minority Tutsis (14%). 800,000 people were murdered in the name of tribal cleansing and at that point in time it was alright for a Hutu to kill a Tutsi as per what had become the norm. The entire world condemned this sordid act even though it was relatively “right” in the Hutu society. This might sound extreme but it only shows us a norm in a society does not make it a right thing to be done. The same applies for business in that what is a norm for business in one society would be considered gross corruption in another and also what
The world of business would be such a chaotic place sans universal truth that can be applied to establish ethical behavior. If they are no “absolutes” then everything else is relative; that state of being depends on how many factors and those factors include how one feels on a certain issue, the norms in a society that one lives in, the definition of right and wrong being subjective, and religious beliefs.
In the instance where an individual will act as they feel and not per universal absolute truth, then the individual may decide not to pay for the services rendered to them or merchandise that they procured because that is how the individual feels about the situation even if the renderer of service or seller may feel that they ought to be paid for their services or goods. They feelings in this case are only true to them and not the buyer as the buyer has a different feeling about the situation.
In the case where the norms of a society dictate the ethical behavior of a society, it would also mean that there is relative subjectivity to the whole notion of ethics as societies can have norms which are not at all right as seen in the case of the Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda. The Hutus were a majority (85%)of the population and through political propaganda they were incited to kill the minority Tutsis (14%). 800,000 people were murdered in the name of tribal cleansing and at that point in time it was alright for a Hutu to kill a Tutsi as per what had become the norm. The entire world condemned this sordid act even though it was relatively “right” in the Hutu society. This might sound extreme but it only shows us a norm in a society does not make it a right thing to be done. The same applies for business in that what is a norm for business in one society would be considered gross corruption in another and also what