And another dilemma for business ethics

397 Pages·2012·2.26 MB·English

101 Ethical Dilemmas
Second Edition
Reviews of the first edition
‘a chatty, jokey journey through philosophical dilemmas, ancient and modern ... but
the philosophy is the real thing.’ New SScientist
‘... Cohen does a good job in weaving some intriguing stories and classic
philosophical ideas.’ Times HHigher EEducation SSupplement
‘The logical positivists might have called ethics gobbledegook, but it’s well and
truly on the menu here in 101 courses.’ The AAge
‘always thought-provoking, funny and iconoclastic about the whole business of
doing philosophy ... the most perfect toilet reading I know.’ http://www.fish.co.uk/
‘[A] hugely entertaining gallop through philosophy’s thorniest questions. Saving
philosophy from dry abstractions Cohen’s enlightening, irreverent style dismisses
any set rules. Instead he balances the arguments and highlights the flaws of
ancient and modern philosophers ...The debates are real enough to create passion
and provoke thought ...The book starts with the warning that it is not a guidebook
for ethical living. What it does do is plant hundreds of more ethical questions in
your mind, fulfilling its role as a light-hearted, lively introduction to the subject of
ethical philosophy. It may not make you a better person or resolve all your
problems, but it’s a great work out for your brain!’ The BBig IIssue/ RRed PPepper
‘This book is great fun. Many of the dilemmas are obviously profound, others appear
to be entertaining, trivial diversions, but because they are all short and easily
digestible the temptation is to read the whole of the first part quickly and without
regard for the fact that each one captures a real and difficult ethical dilemma worth
mulling over. The best way to use the book is to take the dilemmas slowly, one by
one (or at most, group by group) and to try to resolve them for yourself. Cohen tells
us that the discussion section can be read or left alone according to our discretion,
but reading it should reveal why the seemingly trivial “little things” are, in Sherlock
Holmes’ words, “infinitely the most important”.’ Larry BBrown, AAmazon, UUK

101 Ethical Dilemmas
Second edition
MARTIN COHEN
First published 2003
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
270 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Reprinted 2003, 2006
Second edition published 2007
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2003, 2007 Martin Cohen
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library,2007.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN 0–203–96317–2 Mastere-bookISBN
ISBN10: 0-415-40399-5 (hbk)
ISBN10: 0-415-40400-2 (pbk)
ISBN10: 0-203-96317-2 (ebk)
ISBN13: 978-0-415-40399-3 (hbk)
ISBN13: 978-0-415-40400-6 (pbk)
ISBN13: 978-0-203-96317-3 (ebk)
To Tessa too
‘It isn’t that they can’t see the solution. It is that they can’t see the problem.’
G. K. Chesterton, Scandal of Father Brown
Contents
Forward! xii
How to use this book xvii
Note on the philosophical pictures xix
Four dodgy dilemmas to get started with...
1 The lifeboat 2
2 Sinking further 3
3 The psychologists’ tale 4
4 Custom is king 5
And three personal dilemmas which maybe a business ethics course
could help with...
C
5 The internet bargain 7 o
n
6 The toaster 8 te
n
7 The liar 9 ts
Three tricky trolley dilemmas (that need to be solved together)
8 The dodgy donor clinic 11
9 The famous footbridge dilemma 12
10 The human cannonball 13
The descent begins
11 The first stage of cruelty 15
12 Stage 2: free to do otherwise 18
13 Penultimate stage: the two tests 19
14 Final stage: the immortal member 21
Some pretty ancient dilemmas
15 Gyges’ ring 24
16 The woeful tale of St Augustine 26
17 A balanced tale for the Yellow Emperor28
18 The ascetic tale of Chrysippus the Stoic 29
vii
19 The sensible tale of Epicurus 30
20 Magnanimous Man 31
21 The Magnanimous Man in Heaven 32
Anti-social dilemmas
22 Against e-Ville 35
23 Stumped 37
24 Cracked? 38
25 Getting hotter 39
26 Feeling drained 40
A dose of medical ethics
27 Breeding experiments 42
28 Designer babies 44
29 KwikBaby 45
30 The downmarket rival 47
31 TGN1412 49
s 32 The Nobodie Rules: a drama in three acts 50
ent 33 Witheringspoon-X disease 54
nt
o 34 The hospital’s dilemma 55
C
The censor’s dilemma
35 Foul things 58
36 The criminal connection 60
37 A matter of standards 62
38 The exploitative pictures 63
39 The nasty pop group 65
Business week:dilemmas from business ethics ...
40 The short memos by the pirate 67
41 The blaring radio 68
42 The infectious disease 69
43 The witness 70
And another dilemma for business ethics (with the emphasis on ethics)
44 The Devil’s chemists 71
viii
A pentad of moral stories:searching for divine justice
45 The unfruitful tree 75
46 Job’s lot 76
47 The sacrificial lamb 77
48 The modern day Good Samaritan 78
49 Lazarus the beggar 79
Some monkey business
50 Monkey business 81
51 More monkey business 84
52 Life’s not fair 86
53 Infantile ethical egotism 87
Searching for the good life
54 The rich man’s dilemma 89
55 The beauty trap 90
56 The good life 93
C
o
n
Three more trolley dilemmas (that no one really cares about anyway) ten
ts
57 Flight 999 to Shangri-La 95
58 Dangerous nibbles 97
59 The terrorist 98
Watching brief
60 The Panopticon 100
61 The Panopticon: second section 101
62 The Panopticon: third section 102
63 The Panopticon: final section 103
Animals too:the vegetarian’s dilemma
64 Plutarch’s uncongenial fare 105
65 The beast 106
66 Plutarch’s response 107
67 St Paul’s view 108
68 Chrysostom’s warning 109
ix