What is morality, where does it come from, and how does it work? Scholars have struggled with these questions for millennia. But we now have a scientific answer. The theory of ‘morality as cooperation’ uses the mathematics of cooperation—the theory of nonzero-sum games—to identify the many distinct problems of cooperation and their solutions, and it predicts that it is the solutions employed by humans that constitute ‘morality’. Thus, morality turns out to be a collection of biological and cultural solutions to the problems of cooperation and conflict recurrent in human social life. This theory generates a comprehensive taxonomy of moral values—a Periodic Table of Ethics—that includes obligations to family, group loyalty, reciprocity, bravery, respect, fairness, and property rights. And because morality as cooperation makes principled predictions about the structure and content of human morality, which can be tested against those of rival theories, it reveals that the study of morality is simply another branch of science.

background

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On ethical relativism

Morality as Cooperation: A Problem-Centred Approach

term used to frame the process of transition from an apartheid regime to a new “rainbow nation” and an African renaissance. There is no consensus on what ubuntu actually means, and the precise content of the concept is still contested. The translations range from “humanity” and “charity” to “common sense” and “generosity.” Often ubuntu is seen as a concept enshrined in a traditional philosophy of life, although one needs to further differentiate between ubuntu as a moral quality of a person or as a way of living. The core meaning of the concept ubuntu is frequently expressed using the Zulu-Xhosa aphorism “umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu” – “A human being is a human being through other people.” meaning that every human being needs other people in order to be human; every person is part of a whole, integrated into a comprehensive network of mutual dependencies. The aphorism expresses “the African idea of persons: persons exist only in relation to other persons. The human self . . . only exists in relationship to its surroundings; these relationships are what it is. And the most important of these are the relationships we have with other persons” (Shutte 2001, 23). Thus, the aphorism refers to the deep relational character of ubuntu and underlines at the same time that human beings (umuntu) are a “being

/pdf/the-routledge-handbook-of-philosophy-of-relativism-fgdmzr0q5f.pdf

The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Relativism

Developing countries need to reform legislation to ensure the global supply firms in ready-made garment (RMG) industry is adequately addressing obligations of social responsibility. Literature typically focuses on strategies for raising responsible standards in global buying firms within the RMG industry, but fails to focus on implementing strategies for suppliers in developing countries. This article addresses this gap by specifically focusing on the RMG industry in Bangladesh, the home of the third largest RMG supplier in the world. It concentrates on analysing how and to what extent the law can assist in developing social responsibility performance of the RMG manufacturing firms in developing countries. It ultimately concludes that a new governance approach in laws can effectively increase the social responsibility practice standards of an industry where global buying firms are profit-driven and governmental agencies are either inadequate or corrupt.

/pdf/improving-social-responsibility-in-rmg-industries-through-a-4oj7gz7wps.pdf

Improving Social Responsibility in RMG Industries Through a New Governance Approach in Laws

Most management researchers pause at the threshold of objective right and wrong. Their hesitation is understandable. Values imply a “subjective,” personal dimension, one that can invite religious and moral interference in research. The dominant epistemological camps of positivism and subjectivism in management stumble over the notion of moral objectivity. Empirical research can study values in human behavior, but hard-headed scientists should not assume that one value can be objectively better than another. In this article, we invite management researchers to rethink this presumption. We show how accepting at least a limited form of moral objectivity, namely, an epistemic orientation that seeks objective moral reasons, can benefit management research by 1. guiding research practice; 2. using patterns of moral objectivity as clues for formulating empirical hypotheses for psychological explanations; and 3. adding prescriptive power to empirical theories.

Rethinking Right: Moral Epistemology in Management Research

This article reappraises Kasoma's ethical framework of Afriethics. By locating Afriethics within the wider sociopolitical context, it demonstrates the extent to which Kasoma's religious, profession...

On ethical relativism

Citations

Morality as Cooperation: A Problem-Centred Approach

The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Relativism

Improving Social Responsibility in RMG Industries Through a New Governance Approach in Laws

Rethinking Right: Moral Epistemology in Management Research

Kasoma's Afriethics A Reappraisal

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