Business Ethics and Corporate Governance, Second Edition

MORALITY AND LAW

Philosopher James Rachels suggests two criteria fulfilling a minimum conception of morality—reason and impartiality. By the use of reason, Rachels means that a moral decision must be based on reasons acceptable to other rational persons. The criterion of impartiality is fulfilled when the interests of all those affected by a moral decision are taken into account, with of course, the recognition of finite knowledge of the repercussions of any ethical decision. Following Rachels, then, any legitimate moral theory must meet the tests of reason and impartiality. People often tend to confuse legal and moral issues. These are two different things. Breaking an unjust law is not necessarily immoral. Gandhiji during his Dandi Yatra broke ...