ABSTRACT

Ever since Socrates brought philosophy down from the heavens to deal with the human things, most of the thinkers who have made a name in that subject have reflected deeply on economic life and, particularly, on commerce. They sought to comprehend its origins and nature, its functions and consequences in the social order, along with its relation to the state. This is not to mention how the philosophers endeavored to gauge the proper role of commerce both in the larger community and in the lives of individuals. Even when they were not specifically addressing commerce, they were articulating ideas and theories applicable to it, mainly by providing enduring methods and principles of moral reasoning that help us grapple with situations neither known nor imagined by them. Consciously or not, these notions have been taken up in our time by business ethics, setting the terms of analysis and debate in the field. All the current discussion about corporate social responsibility, stakeholders, sustainability, shared value, living wages, and ethical consumption, draws upon the deposit of wisdom bequeathed to us by the great philosophers of the past. Much more could be mined, to be sure, but more than a few jewels from this deposit have managed to gain currency among business ethicists. Against that age-old stereotype of being an impractical and unworldly enterprise, against the conventional wisdom of our day that sees it as inextricably confined to its historical period, philosophy has much to say that is relevant (and even sympathetic) to our modern-day business civilization.