Session 2- Questions
1. What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of ethical egoism as an ethical
philosophy for business managers? (Based on Business Ethics text Chapter 4; tied to
course competencies 3 and 4)
2. What exactly is “Machiavellian ethics,” and how could it be applied to business
management and entrepreneurship? Must Machiavellian ethics be applied in order to
achieve success in business today? (based on Business Ethics text Chapter 5; tied to course
competencies 3 and 4)
3. What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of ethical relativism as an ethical
philosophy for business managers? Do you agree with the basic “relativism” rationale
justifying ethical relativism? (based on Business Ethics text Chapter 6 and Legal
Challenges text Chapter 6; tied to course competencies 3 and 4)
1. What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of ethical egoism as an ethical
philosophy for business managers? (Based on Business Ethics text Chapter 4; tied to
course competencies 3 and 4)
Ethical egoism is a normative ethical theory that assumes that people have a choice; that is,
one is not always psychologically bound to act in one’s self-interest (Cavico & Mujtaba,
2013, p. 47). The idea behind ethical egoism is that the right and moral thing to do is look
out for your own self-interest. It does not describe how people behave, rather, it describes
how people “ought” to behave (Kang). While this might offer the egoist short-term
satisfaction, it could make his/her life worse in the long run because if everyone acted only
in their own self-interests, then a society might develop in which people lived under
constant threat of attack (Kang). However, according to our textbook, an ethical egoist is
not always egoistic or a selfish person. A person can act consistently with ethical egoism
by treating people well, helping others, respecting their rights, and evidencing concern for
their welfare in order to promote his or her own self-interest in the long run (Cavico &
Mujtaba, 2013, p. 53). An example our textbook uses to show an advantage of ethical
egoism is that improvements in working conditions for employees or contributions to the
community can very well earn the ethical egoist’s approval. Since it can improve
performance by decreasing turnover, improving productivity, and enhance reputation of the
firm. Business managers can use such egoistic practices to improve productivity, as it is
often argued that business managers ought to act egoistically in order to promote general
