Dialogue and Universalism

The article explores biblical sources of ethics principles of business. It demonstrates that in the contemporary pluralistic world, principles of biblical business ethics can be valuable in the communication and interaction among representatives of different countries and cultures, as they encompass fundamental foundations for building business relationships. Due to the influence of Christian morality on the culture of many nations, biblical values have the potential to significantly impact individuals and their economic behavior, contributing to the dissemination of important economic categories in society. The study reveals that important anthropological foundations for fruitful economic relations have been formed within the framework of biblical theocentrism, including considerations of human dignity, honesty, diligence, responsibility, and charity. The biblical perspective on property as a temporary stewardship has significant implications for awareness and education about responsibility not only towards other people but also towards the environment, holding crucial relevance in the context of corporate social responsibility in the modern world.

This paper aims to explain some economic aspects of sharia by using a widely grasped philosophical approach. The paper presents an Islamic position on business ethics as it is in Qu-ran and in interpretations of sharia elaborated by Islamic thinkers, first of all Indonesian ones. Following results given in selected positions of the literature of the subject the authors come to the following theses and conclusions: Humans must pay attention to few possessions that are basic needs. Humans must avoid prioritizing secondary needs by ignoring basic needs because this is contrary to the maqashid of sharia. Property management must be carried out about a predetermined plan and people who have property should not hoard it.

In today’s world, on the one hand, the traditional networks of civic solidarity face an increasing number of challenges to overcome in the context of the politically uncontrolled economic modernization. On the other hand, the mere fact that we have become neighbours by virtue of globalization does not make us automatically brothers. At stake is the question of solidarity; civic cooperation in the today specific situation. In order to get a glimpse of the problem, this article attempts to examine some outlines of the current situation of global market economy as it is understood by Joseph Ratzinger. It is an important sign of our times that demands pre-political morality from societies across the world so as to bring about an authentic cooperation.

One intricate and perhaps, divisive task in philosophy is that of gauging growth in societies. The complexity stems from the reality that everyone seems to possess a template for growth, and so people are wont to use different yardsticks for its measurement. For the technically inclined, the index is science; in civil circles, the measure is perhaps, that of political evolution; and in religious spheres, it is increase in membership/physical structures. Ironically, all the advances arising thereof have been marred and sometimes eclipsed by torrid upheavals: violent overthrow of governments and wars; financial meltdowns; scourge of pandemics; prospects of nuclear combat; religious bigotry; chaotic climate, etc., that make life precarious. Human civilization is on the brink of self-destruct. “Ethics in Business” reimagines the interconnectivity of all spheres of human life, and proposes that the opportunity to redeem our broken world is tied to reengineering the values of trust and loyalty.

This paper explores the integration of John Rawls’s (1921–2002) theory of “justice as fairness” into corporate social responsibility (CSR). It accentuates the shift from solely focusing on profit maximization to a model that prioritizes ethical governance and sustainable development. The paper reinterprets Rawls’s theory for corporate ethics and governance, asserting that businesses have a moral obligation to uphold fairness and equity beyond mere compliance or public perception. It acknowledges the role of the government in this integration. It recognizes the challenges in aligning Rawlsian principles with corporate objectives while balancing economic and societal obligations. The fusion of CSR with Rawlsian ideas can potentially bring transformative impacts to businesses, paving the way for a more equitable form of capitalism that combines economic goals with a strong commitment to social justice and ethical practices.

This article investigates the ethical foundations for both personal and commercial conduct, placing these a) for natural individuals with Kant’s categorical imperative as the standard for verification and b) for entities defined to conduct business with markets that freely determine prices among the participating actors at the moment of exchange. Pervasive digitization of transactions is noted. The concepts of currency and money are defined and examined in practice, drawing on the statements of international and US government agencies, economists as well as investigative reporters.

Buying and selling are the most natural activities common to human beings. In a society where profit overrides personal dignity and human rights, many people see market as a virtue-free zone. They do not believe that one can buy and sell without dishonest gains. Consequently, they are ready to do anything in the name of business: manufacturing and selling fake and substandard goods and services for originals. Today, markets are flooded with fake medical drugs, fake foods, fake drinks/water, fake motor parts and fake building materials. Thus market exhibits exploitative and negative impacts on customer satisfaction. Its impact on human life and property leads to increased deaths because of poisoning, building collapses and even increased road accidents. Such market transaction lacks mutual benefit which is its telos. This paper seeks to establish that market is not a virtue-free zone. It has moral standards of excellence internal to it.

This article investigates the characteristics of the phenomenon of fear in work relationships in contemporary society. In this sense, the first part describes the dynamics of current life, emphasizing the role of organizations, their bad reputation, and characterizing their operational center as a society of performance. The second part describes the phenomenon of fear, starting from some representative origins of the term, Martin Heidegger’s phenomenological perspective, and recent studies within the field of organizations. Finally, a survey conducted in the first semester of 2023 with 160 workers from different sectors about their perception of fear in the organization is presented. The findings are interpreted in light of the studied perspectives connected with the ethical responsibility of institutions and the pursuit of comprehensive well-being in work relationships.

The phenomenon of corruption as a type of crime is immanently inherent in social and political reality. Sociality as a trans-societal universal form of human community is the environment in which corruption ties are born and function. The socio-political structure is organized as a collective effort, on the one hand, it overcomes disintegration, and on the other, it generates corrupt behaviour patterns. Corruption models of behaviour have an extremely wide scale of distribution and are characterized by active institutional expansion into various spheres and institutions of modern society, they feed business relations and administrative activities, covering huge masses of the population. In this sense, their study is extremely important and relevant.

Since independence, governance in Nigeria has faced several roadblocks at all levels of government. There are issues of corruption, of government institutions, and officeholders lacking the capacity to fulfil their mandates and hardly engage with citizens. This paper focuses on the issue of virtue and the business of governance in Nigeria. It distinguishes itself by its introduction of ethics—virtue in the discourse on governance to search for solutions to the challenges of governance in Nigeria. The paper adopts the philosophical theoretical frameworks of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle on virtue, and employs the thematic and analytical methods of inquiry. In the end, it discovers that imbibing virtue by those in governance can deal with the challenges of governance in Nigeria.

Values---the individual’s or group’s general tastes regarding results or courses of actions deemed appropriate or otherwise, have a synergetic relationship with educational growth. Ordinarily, the values espoused by individuals or groups engender specific types of attitudes that elicit precise sorts of behaviours that open the horizon for definite sorts of educational growth. Conversely, the quality and quantity of educational growth of a nation influence the behaviours of the citizens which generate attitudes that ultimately create values. This rectangular-like bidirectional correlation has a very strong causational angle to it: right values lead to positive educational growth; wrong ones elicit growth deficits in education, and vice versa. This essay establishes the correlation between values and educational growth using Nigeria as a case study. Through textual criticisms, it highlights the causative influence of bad values on the poor educational outcomes in the country and recommends value reorientation to reverse the ugly tide.

Trust and loyalty are universal human needs for moral knowledge, healthy relationships and good governance. They are core universal ethical values and virtues that enable people to relate freely under any sentient socio-political milieu. Public trust and loyalty in governments and in leaders across the globe is drastically declining with rising sense of hopelessness and lack of confidence that make citizens yearn for change. Meanwhile, some scholars have argued that distrust and disloyalty are as valuable as their contraries, especially when justified. Justifiably, one can be protected from harm and actions that could have negative effects on his reputations and self-respect, with inherent socio-political benefits and roles to good governance and the development of society. The point is that the reasons we have to trust and show loyalty are as valuable as the reasons we have to distrust and show disloyalty to someone or government. This means that trust and loyalty can either be withdrawn or betrayed. However, as valid as this sounds, the main thrust of this paper is that it is virtuous to trust and show loyalty until one finds valuable reason to withdraw or betray such trust or loyalty. Analytically, the paper concludes that genuine trust and loyalty promote common good in the global business of governance.

Ideally, the government of any nation is in a contract with the citizens for protection of life, property and freedom while the citizens are obliged to obey government laws. Moreso, the government is to discharge her duties without discriminating against any person or group. In Nigeria there are economic and administrative policies that discriminate against the Igbo nation resulting in dire consequences. Since economic policies make or mar the wellbeing of citizens especially in business, the need for fairness, equity, and justice in the formulation and execution of policies is unquestionable. The Igbo of South East Nigeria, who are very active in business and entrepreneurship, suffer untold disadvantages and massive economic losses due to the lopsided and discriminatory economic policies churned out by successive Nigerian governments. Here we examine and argue against such policies based on their ethical implications and effects on individual and national development.

The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence has brought about significant positive changes across various sectors. However, it has also created new opportunities for cybercrime. Nigeria, in particular, has witnessed a surge in cybercriminal activities, which have had severe economic and social consequences. The paper explored the relationship between AI, cybercrime, and the underground business economy in Nigeria, focusing on the rise of fraud, identity theft, and hacking. It discussed the ethical implications of AI, cybercrime, and the underground business economy, highlighting potential risks to privacy, security, and social trust, while emphasizing the ethical responsibilities of AI developers, policymakers, and stakeholders in mitigating these risks and promoting responsible AI use. The Igwebuike ethical theoretical framework was employed for the evaluation of cybercrime, and the thematic and analytical methods of inquiry were used. The paper submits that there is need for an ethical response to the challenges posed by cybercrime in Nigeria.

The purpose of this study is a philosophical analysis of the phenomenon of social responsibility and the peculiarities of the process of its transformation, which took place in the context of globalization. The objective of the study is to determine the nature of the impact of the globalization process on the transformation of the institution of responsibility. In the course of the research, systematic, formal-logical and historical methods of scientific cognition were used. A civilizational approach was also applied, in which the analysis of the object and subject of research was carried out taking into account civilizational features. As a result of the research, we came to the conclusion that globalization in its modern form is a process of modernization within the whole of humanity. Currently, in the vast majority of the most economically and technologically developed countries of the planet, there is such a negative phenomenon as negative demographic dynamics. In turn, this phenomenon is accompanied by a deep crisis of the institution of the family, and with it a massive departure from traditional norms and values. In such conditions, such an important institution and instrument regulating public relations as the institute of social responsibility inevitably undergoes a serious transformation. In the course of this process, there is a transition to the so-called modern society, the fundamental difference of which from the traditional one is that it is focused on the innovative component of culture, which in fact means the ever-increasing predominance of innovative elements over traditional ones, the secular nature of public life, development, which has a progressive, and not cyclical, the formation of democratic institutions, the mass nature of education, the dominance of the universal over the local, etc. All these innovative elements of culture, taken both separately and in combination, have a decisive influence on the entire Worldview of people, including their perception of justice and responsibility.

The very occurrence of post-Soviet Russia necessarily dictates the need to study ideological foundations of its existence. What are they? How did they influence and continue to influence the social well-being of the country: do they corrupt or contribute to the unity of society; do they strengthen Russians in pondering over the historical path of the country's development, or, on the contrary, bring confusion into the souls of people and prophesy trouble? The purpose of the paper is to study the language of everyday life as a kind of mirror reflecting the social well-being of the post-Soviet Russian Federation. The authors conclude that this social value is associated with the prosperity of both individuals and society as a whole, but of primary importance is the preservation of cultural and civilizational identity, sovereignty of the country, and solidarity. In modern conditions, cohesion seems to be the first step to social well-being of the country.

Modern ecological risks associated with the anthropological crisis of nature, leading to the paradoxes of the ecological state of humanity, are analyzed. It is substantiated that the unlimited use of natural resources causes a misbalance between human actions and the riches of nature. The question of the necessity of exploring the man-nature relation in the context of humanistic revolution is raised; it allows us to perceive the relation to nature as caring which includes such existential elements as agreement, tolerance, respect, and care. We are discussing an alternative view of the relationship between man and nature in anthropologies of exploitation and violence. It is necessary to realize the value of nature precisely in its ontological intentionality and not because it is valuable solely in terms of utilitarianism and pragmatism. It is determined that over-technological human activity has led to catastrophic changes in large natural areas, destruction of natural water resources, and global warming, which threatens the biosphere and may lead to fundamental changes in the state of nature. The assumption is made that it is impossible to exclude the situation on the existence of the threat of catastrophe between man and nature; at that, the human search for the options of communication and preservation of nature and man, and their anthropological characteristics becomes expedient.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is not just a name today but a philosophy, lifestyle, and A symbol of peace and harmony worldwide. Having clairvoyance regarding the dreadful consequences of modern technology and consumption patterns of his time, Gandhi said, “Nature has everything for Human beings’ needs, not for their greed.” Gandhi represents a culture of truth and non-violence. His ethical perfection is exemplary for us and generations to come. His philosophical and ethical transformation as an individual will also encourage generations, though his political life is criticized severely. The paper talks about environmental sustainability as the end, and the ecosophy of Gandhi is the means to achieve that while critically discussing a few models of sustainable development and their limitations. It also gives a narrative on the application of Gandhi’s fundamental virtues/philosophies in the context of ecosophy models as a. the philosophy of Satya (Truth) and Ahimsa (Non-violence), b. the philosophy of Sarvodaya (welfare of all or Humanism), c. the philosophy of Swarajya (Village Economy), d. the philosophy of Aparigraha (Non-possession) and e. the philosophy of Trusteeship.