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Strengths
- Secondly, trade for profit - Aristotle saw this as "wholly devoid for virtue" as for him true wealth is "the stock of things that are useful in the community." Trade, if done purely for profit, does not involve acquiring any true wealth. Money only has value if you exchange it for something useful such as if you were to come to a market with bread, you would bring true wealth. If you exchanged it for money, you would then exchange fruit - I leave with true wealth. If yoy come to the market with only money, you bring nothing of true value. You may exchange several times and leave with more money, but you have produced nothing of true wealth at all.
- In this sense, Aristotle attacks the profit-driven approach to business.
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Weaknesses
- Aristotle talked about two types of business - Household trading is where a farmer, who has crops, trades some of these for clothes. Aristotle thought that this sort of trading was vital part of a eudaimon society. Exchanging goods for money or servives helps society function as a single person cannot be an expert in all aspects of life.
- However, today every business seems to have a "mission statement" - a summary of their telos or purpose. Companies do not state their purpose purely in terms of profits but see their purpose as contributing to the community, local and worldwide.
- Virtue ethics says that eudamonia for a community is even more important than for the individual. The Co-op is an example of this in practise in business as the members are the customers and the owners "membership is open to everyone as long as they sahre our values and principles."
- Can argue that business give way to role models - both for the employer and the employee, whether it be Richard Branson on the one hand, or on the other hand Erin Borckovich, who courageously exposed the toxic leaks of Pacific Gas in an American town.
- Virtue ethics would not agree with Freidman that a business exists soley for profit - profit, however, is necessary to help achieve the true purpose of the polis and the eudaimonia of all the stakeholders.
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Opportunities
- Virtue ethics clearly shows that business is part of society and not something completely separate from it
- Adam Smith would agree that it is down to the individual to decide what is most useful and virtuous when it comes to business, and the "invisible hand" of the market means the wishes of oethers must be considered or the business will fail.
- Complies with John Rawl's idea of a "Social Contract" between employers, employees and stakeholders so all their voices can be heard.
- Solomon - profits should be used as a means of rewarding and encouraging hard work and investment, building a better business and serving others.
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Threats
- There is always the danger of MacIntyre's "bureaucratic manager" dominating, which means that business is not really concerned with ethics at all but efficiency, systems, profit and controlling resources - will virtue ethics help in a global market?
- Some virtues, such as cooperation, may be made to flourish at the expense of others, such as enterprise and competitve spirit.
- Milton Freidman argues that companies have a duty only to their shareholders (to increase profit); it is for society to set the other ethical rules.
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