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Chapter Four: Roles and Conventions: Confronting Cultural
Conflicts
Learning Objectives of Chapter Four
2. Describe conventionalism and explain its pros and cons.
4. Explain what cultural relativism is and how moral relativists apply it.
5. Analyze the ways to contest role-relative norms.
SUMMARY: Chapter Four discusses how social and cultural norms can create conflict
with one another. Students are introduced to conventionalism and relativism, as well as
the criticisms of both theories. The chapter also discusses how role-relative norms can be
intelligently challenged.
The Meaning of a Normative Purpose
A normative telos expresses purpose as the function a business activity should
achieve, not just was it does achieve.
Conventionalism
Conventionalism relies on social agreements about the purpose of a role or practice.
Because a social practice requires a shared understanding of what that practice
entails, it brings with it a social convention about its purposes.
Benefits:
A behavior is a social norm when it is:
meaning common and expected
The Relativist Error
Conventions about right and wrong vary widely over time, space, and between
societies. Cultural relativism believes:
Societies and cultures differ in their conventions, including right and wrong.
Moral right and wrong mean only what the conventions of a specific society
and culture say.
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Moral relativism claims that there is no valid
correct or worthy than another; therefore, societies must be judged by their own
standards alone.
Criticisms:
Cultural relativism attempts to derive a non-relative moral standard from the
The Limits of Role-Based Ethics
Can we derive the moral responsibilities of businesspeople from social practice and
social roles?
Role-relative norms are contestable:
Reject the role or norm
Refuse to identify with it, arguing that the norm is not binding