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The Futility of Grand Principles
R
ECALL THE QUESTION
Steve Lewis asked after slamming his
desk drawer shut: Why was the St. Louis trip such a big
deal? Like almost everyone, Lewis had been brought up to
know the difference between right and wrong, and he desperately
wanted to do the right thing. So what was the problem? Why was
he so frustrated?
At least three sources of moral guidance were available to Steve
Lewis, Peter Adario, and Edouard Sakiz. These were the mission
statements and ethical guidelines of their companies, their legal
responsibilities, and the fundamental principles of traditional moral
philosophy.
Sakiz, for example, could have turned to his own company,
Roussel-Uclaf, and to its partner Hoechst for guidance on the RU
486 decision.