A basic dilemma confronting today's manager is how to be both profitable and moral. Making profits through immoral means-such as deceiving investors or customers-is unsustainable. Likewise, remaining moral while losing money will cause a business to fail. According to conventional morality, either a business manager maximizes profits and necessarily compromises on ethics, or necessarily sacrifices profits in order to be moral. Woiceshyn explains why this is a false dichotomy and offers rational egoism as an alternative moral code to businesspeople who want to maximize profits ethically. Through logical argument and various examples, this book shows how to apply principles such as rationality, productiveness, honesty, justice, and pride for long-term self-interest.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
Introduction: How to Be Profitable and Moral
Which Ethics? . Overview
Values as End Goals, Principles as Road Maps
The Necessity of Pursuing Objective Values: An Issue of Life and Death . The Necessity of Guiding Principles: Why Acting on the Spur of the Moment Is Harmful . Rational Moral Principles Are Contextual-But Not Relative
Why Egoism?
The Principle of Self-Interest . Human Nature as the Gauge of Value . Why
Happiness Cannot Be the Standard of Value
Rationality as the Primary Virtue
Thinking as the Main Means of Survival-and of Being Moral . The Virtue of Rationality in Business . What Rationality Requires in Thinking and in Action . The Role of Emotions . Guarding against Irrationality . Applying Rationality
Productiveness
Material and Spiritual Benefits of Productiveness . Productive Work Requires
Thinking and Action . What about Rest and Retirement? . Guarding against
"Unproductiveness" . Applying Productiveness
Honesty
Why Is Honesty Egoistic? . Honesty in Thinking and Action . G
