Markets, Ethics, and Business Ethics

This book introduces a study of ethics and values to develop a deeper understanding of markets, business, and economic life. Its distinctive features include a thorough integration of personal and institutional perspectives; applied ethics and political philosophy; and philosophy, business, and economics.

Part I introduces a study of markets, property rights, and law. Part II examines the purpose and responsibilities of corporations. Parts III and IV analyze economic life through the ethics and values of welfare and efficiency, liberty, rights, equality, desert, personal character, community, and the common good.

This Third Edition maintains the strengths of previous editions – short, digestible chapters and engaging writing that explains challenging ideas clearly. The material is easily adaptable with suggested course outlines, separable chapters, and flexible applications to case studies. This book is designed for interdisciplinary programs in philosophy, politics, and economics (PPE), as well as courses in business ethics.

Updates to the Third Edition include:

• addition of a new introductory chapter on the value of an ethical life
• coverage of artifical intelligence (AI) developments, including copyrights and patent implications, social media companies and corporate social responsibility, ethical differences between AI and human personality, and impacts on meaningful work
• integration of recent scholarship, bringing discussions and references up to date
• improvement of the writing across all chapters, making the book easier to read
• addition of new material on the is-ought gap in Chapter 1 with revised discussion of personal and institutional points of view
• editing and repositioning of consequentialist and deontological ethics in Chapter 3
• revision of appendix for instructors that includes different syllabi possibilities for different types of courses

The eBook of the Third Edition now includes hyperlinks (1) between when a term is first used in the main text and its definition in the Glossary and (2) between germane sections when they are cross-referenced.

Cover image: Gary Yeowell/Getty Images

Steven Scalet is Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Hoffberger Center for Ethical Engagement at the University of Baltimore, USA. Prior to working at the University of Baltimore, Scalet was Director of the Program in Philosophy, Politics, and Law at Binghamton University (SUNY), USA, where he received the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. Scalet received his PhD in philosophy and MA in economics from the University of Arizona, USA. Scalet is the author of many articles and the editor of Morality and Moral Controversies: Readings in Moral, Social, and Political Philosophy, 10th Edition (Routledge, 2019).