Competition, Trust, and Cooperation: A Comparative Study (Ethical Economy)

It was at the fifth SEEP-Conference on Economic Ethics and philosophy in autumn 1997 that the organizational work of the seventh conference in 1999 was entrusted to the editors of this volume. Prof. Peter Koslowski, series editor of The Studies in Economic Ethics and Philosophy, SEEP, expressed the hope that the SEEP-Conference be held in the Far-East for the fist time would bring a new comparative aspect to economic ethics and philosophy. Further, the agenda of economic ethics seemed to increase its significance also in Japan and other Asian countries especially due to the spread of corruption in the government and business under the financial crisis that attacked these nations in the late 1990s. Though we chose "Com­ petition, Trust, and Cooperation" as the general theme of the conference, this should include the collusion, distrust, and corruption as the opposite side of the medal. The conference was held on March 10-12, 1999 at the Kansai Seminar House of the Nippon Christian Academy, Kyoto, Japan. Fourteen papers were submitted to the conference. In addition to twelve papers that are printed in this volume, Prof. Ruisheng Wang (Capital Normal University, Beijing) read his paper on ethical problems in the context of Asian financial crisis and Prof. Agnar Sandmo (Norwegian School of Economics and Busi­ ness Administration) did the same by his paper on societal aspect of the competition promotion policy.

This book is the result of the first SEEP (Studies in Economic Ethics and Philosophy) conference that was held in Asia. Fist, the Western tradition is reinterpreted and restated by the two editors with their diversified perspective of virtue ethics and communicative ethics. Then, new approaches such as "critical realism", "reciprocal delivery", "evolutionary thought" and "cultural studies" are applied to understand ethical problems in economics. Further, in contrast to the reassessment of Scottish moral philosophy and German Romanticism, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean ethical thinking is examined under the modern perspective. This book does not miss the reflections on current problems around the penetration of corruption and the primacy of shareholders'value in the field of business.