Corporate Ethics
Business ethics has been a topic of interest for over 750 years. More recently has it
become in the forefront of businesses discussion. With the rise of capitalism and free markets
ethics in business has become a necessary topic to consider. To understand ethics we must first
discover the history of ethics.
In the 16th century the protestant reformation fueled the growth of capitalism and thus,
also led to business ethics. If we look at the story of Christ and his view on ethics, then we will
see the only advice he gave was to pick up your life and follow him. For catholic theologians it
was said that “a businessman… may conduct himself without sin, but cannot be pleasing to
god”. With the rise of Protestantism, a businessman could in fact use his “9 to 5” to please God.
