Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-lrblm Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-10T11:03:50.773Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Rawlsian Institutionalism and Business Ethics: Does It Matter Whether Corporations Are Part of the Basic Structure of Society?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 June 2020

Brian Berkey
Brian Berkey*
Affiliation:
University of Pennsylvania
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In this article, I aim to clarify some key issues in the ongoing debate about the relationship between Rawlsian political philosophy and business ethics. First, I discuss precisely what we ought to be asking when we consider whether corporations are part of the “basic structure of society.” I suggest that the relevant questions have been mischaracterized in much of the existing debate, and that some key distinctions have been overlooked. I then argue that although Rawlsian theory’s potential implications for business ethics are more extensive than some have suggested, the nature of the concern that we ought to have about the effects of corporate behavior on individuals’ economic and social conditions should lead us to reject the view that corporations are bound by principles of justice only if, and insofar as, they are part of the basic structure.

Keywords

corporationsbasic structure of societyinstitutionalismjusticeJohn Rawls
Type
Article
Information
Business Ethics Quarterly , Volume 31 , Issue 2 , April 2021 , pp. 179 - 209
Copyright
©2020 Business Ethics Quarterly

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Anderson, E. 2017. Private government: How employers rule our lives (and why we don’t talk about it). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Arneson, R. J. 1987. Meaningful work and market socialism. Ethics, 97(3): 517–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arneson, R. J. 2009. Meaningful work and market socialism revisited. Analyse & Kritik, 31(1): 139–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arnold, S. 2012. The difference principle at work. Journal of Political Philosophy, 20(1): 94–118.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arnold, S. 2013. Right-wing Rawlsianism: A critique. Journal of Political Philosophy, 21(4): 382–404.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berkey, B. 2015. Double counting, moral rigorism, and Cohen’s critique of Rawls: A response to Alan Thomas. Mind, 124(495): 849–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berkey, B. 2016. Against Rawlsian institutionalism about justice. Social Theory and Practice, 42(4): 706–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berkey, B. 2018. Obligations of productive justice: Individual or institutional? Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, 21(6): 726–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berkey, B. 2019. Collective obligations and demandingness complaints. Moral Philosophy and Politics, 6(1): 113–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blanc, S. 2016. Are Rawlsian considerations of corporate governance illiberal? A reply to Singer. Business Ethics Quarterly, 26(3): 407–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blanc, S., & Al-Amoudi, I. 2013. Corporate institutions in a weakened welfare state: A Rawlsian perspective. Business Ethics Quarterly, 23(4): 497–525.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brenkert, G. G. 1992. Freedom, participation, and corporations: The issue of corporate (economic) democracy. Business Ethics Quarterly, 2(3): 251–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohen, G. A. 2000. If you’re an egalitarian, how come you’re so rich? Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Cohen, G. A. 2008. Rescuing justice and equality. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohen, J. 2002. Taking people as they are? Philosophy and Public Affairs, 30(4): 363–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohen, M. A. 2010. The narrow application of Rawls in business ethics: A political conception of both stakeholder theory and the morality of markets. Journal of Business Ethics, 97(4): 563–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Daniels, N. 2003. Rawls’s complex egalitarianism. In Freeman, S. (Ed.), The Cambridge companion to Rawls: 241–76. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Donaldson, T. 1982. Corporations and morality. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Donaldson, T., & Dunfee, T. W. 1994. Toward a unified conception of business ethics: Integrative social contracts theory. Academy of Management Review, 19(2): 252–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Donaldson, T., & Dunfee, T. W. 1995. Integrative social contracts theory: A communitarian conception of economic ethics. Economics and Philosophy, 11(1): 85–112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Donaldson, T., & Dunfee, T. W. 1999. Ties that bind: A social contracts approach to business ethics. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.Google Scholar
Freeman, R. E. 1994. The politics of stakeholder theory: Some future directions. Business Ethics Quarterly, 4(4): 409–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Freeman, R. E. 2001. A stakeholder theory of the modern corporation. In Beauchamp, T. & Bowie, N. (Eds.), Ethical theory and business (6th ed.): 56–65. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Hartman, E. M. 1996. Organizational ethics and the good life. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Hartman, E. M. 2001. Moral philosophy, political philosophy, and organizational ethics: A response to Phillips and Margolis. Business Ethics Quarterly, 11(4): 673–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hasan, R. 2015. Rawls on meaningful work and freedom. Social Theory and Practice, 41(3): 477–504.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heath, J., Moriarty, J., & Norman, W. 2010. Business ethics and (or as) political philosophy. Business Ethics Quarterly, 20(3): 427–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hodgson, L. P. 2012. Why the basic structure? Canadian Journal of Philosophy, 42(3–4): 303–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hsieh, N. 2004. The obligations of transnational corporations: Rawlsian justice and the duty of assistance. Business Ethics Quarterly, 14(4): 643–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hsieh, N. 2005. Rawlsian justice and workplace republicanism. Social Theory and Practice, 31(1): 115–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hsieh, N. 2008. Justice in production. Journal of Political Philosophy, 16(1): 72–100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hsieh, N. 2009a. Does global business have a responsibility to promote just institutions? Business Ethics Quarterly, 19(2): 251–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hsieh, N. 2009b. Justice at work: Arguing for property-owning democracy. Journal of Social Philosophy, 40(3): 397–411.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hsieh, N. 2009c. The normative study of business organizations: A Rawlsian approach. In Smith, J. (Ed.), Normative theory and business ethics: 93–117. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.Google Scholar
Hussain, W. 2012. Corporations, profit maximization, and the personal sphere. Economics and Philosophy, 28(3): 311–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hussain, W. 2013. Tools and marriages. Business Ethics Journal Review, 1(14): 86–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Julius, A. J. 2003. Basic structure and the value of equality. Philosophy and Public Affairs, 31(4): 321–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kates, M. 2019. Sweatshops, exploitation, and the case for a fair wage. Journal of Political Philosophy 27(1): 26–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keat, R. 2009. Anti-perfectionism, market economies and the right to meaningful work. Analyse & Kritik, 31(1): 121–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kolodny, N. 2017. Help wanted: Subordinates. In Anderson, E. (Ed.), Private government: How employers rule our lives (and why we don’t talk about it): 99–107. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Landemore, H., & Ferreras, I. 2016. In defense of workplace democracy: Towards a justification of the firm/state analogy. Political Theory, 44(1): 53–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lindblom, L. 2011. The structure of a Rawlsian theory of just work. Journal of Business Ethics, 101(4): 577–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Macleod, C. 2014. Applying justice as fairness to institutions. In Mandle, J. & Reidy, D. A. (Eds.), A companion to Rawls: 164–84. Malden, MA: Wiley Blackwell.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marens, R. 2014. The second time farce: Business school ethicists and the emergence of bastard Rawlsianism. In Adler, P., du Gay, P., Morgan, G., & Reed, M. (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of sociology, social theory, and organization studies: Contemporary currents: 447–66. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Martin, D. 2013. The unification challenge. Business Ethics Journal Review, 1(5): 28–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Melenovsky, C. M. 2013. The basic structure as a system of social practices. Social Theory and Practice, 39(4): 599–624.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Melenovsky, C. M., & Bernstein, J. 2015. Why free market rights are not basic liberties. Journal of Value Inquiry, 49(1–2): 47–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moriarty, J. 2005a. Do CEOs get paid too much? Business Ethics Quarterly, 15(2): 257–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moriarty, J. 2005b. On the relevance of political philosophy to business ethics. Business Ethics Quarterly, 15(3): 455–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moriarty, J. 2009. Rawls, self-respect, and the opportunity for meaningful work. Social Theory and Practice, 35(3): 441–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moriarty, J. 2010. Participation in the workplace: Are employees special? Journal of Business Ethics, 92(3): 373–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Murphy, L. B. 1998. Institutions and the demands of justice. Philosophy and Public Affairs, 27(4): 251–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nagel, T. 1975. Libertarianism without foundations. Yale Law Journal, 85(1): 136–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nagel, T. 1991. Equality and partiality. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Néron, P. Y. 2010. Business and the polis: What does it mean to see corporations as political actors? Journal of Business Ethics, 94(3): 333–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Néron, P. Y. 2015. Rethinking the very idea of egalitarian markets and corporations: Why relationships might matter more than distribution. Business Ethics Quarterly, 25(1): 93–124.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Norman, W. 2011. Business ethics as self-regulation: Why principles that ground regulation should be used to ground beyond-compliance norms as well. Journal of Business Ethics, 102(1): 43–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Norman, W. 2014. Is there “a point” to markets? A response to Martin. Business Ethics Journal Review, 2(4): 22–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Norman, W. 2015. Rawls on markets and corporate governance. Business Ethics Quarterly, 25(1): 29–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O’Neill, M. 2008. Three Rawlsian routes toward economic democracy. Revue de Philosophie Économique, 8(2): 29–55.Google Scholar
O’Neill, M., & Williamson, T. 2012. Property-owning democracy: Rawls and beyond. Malden, MA: Blackwell.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Patten, A. 2014. Are the economic liberties basic? Critical Review, 26(3–4): 362–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Phillips, R. A., & Margolis, J. D. 1999. Toward an ethics of organizations. Business Ethics Quarterly, 9(4): 619–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pogge, T. W. 2000. On the site of distributive justice: Reflections on Cohen and Murphy. Philosophy and Public Affairs, 29(2): 137–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Porter, T. 2009. The division of labor and the basic structure restriction. Politics, Philosophy, and Economics, 8(2): 173–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rawls, J. 1993. Political liberalism. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Rawls, J. 1999. A theory of justice (Rev. ed.). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Rawls, J. 2001. Justice as fairness: A restatement. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Rönnegard, D., & Smith, N. C. 2013. Shareholders vs. stakeholders: How liberal and libertarian political philosophy shapes basic debates in business ethics. Business and Professional Ethics Journal, 32(3–4): 183–220.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scheffler, S. 2005. The division of moral labor: Egalitarian liberalism as moral pluralism. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, 79(1): 229–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scheffler, S. 2006. Is the basic structure basic? In Sypnowich, C. (Ed.), The egalitarian conscience: Essays in honour of G. A. Cohen: 102–29. New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scheffler, S. 2015. Distributive justice, the basic structure and the place of private law. Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, 35(2): 213–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schouten, G. 2013. Restricting justice: Political interventions in the home and in the market. Philosophy and Public Affairs, 41(4): 357–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shapiro, D. 1995. Why Rawlsian liberals should support free market capitalism. Journal of Political Philosophy, 3(1): 58–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Singer, A. 2013. What is the best way to argue against the profit-maximization principle? Business Ethics Journal Review, 1(12): 76–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Singer, A. 2015. There is no Rawlsian theory of corporate governance. Business Ethics Quarterly, 25(1): 65–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Singer, A. 2018. Rawls well that ends well: A response to Welch and Ly. Business Ethics Journal Review, 6(3): 11–17.Google Scholar
Smith, J. 2018. Navigating our way between market and state. Business Ethics Quarterly, 29(1): 127–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stanczyk, L. 2012. Productive justice. Philosophy and Public Affairs 40(2): 144–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Strudler, A. 2017. What to do with corporate wealth. Journal of Political Philosophy, 25(1): 108–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Syme, T. 2018. The pervasive structure of society. Philosophy and Social Criticism, 44(8): 888–924.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tan, K. C. 2004. Justice and personal pursuits. Journal of Philosophy, 101(7): 331–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomas, A. 2011. Cohen’s critique of Rawls: A double counting objection. Mind, 120(480): 1099–1141.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomas, A. 2017. Republic of equals: Predistribution and property-owning democracy. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Tomasi, J. 2012. Free market fairness. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Parijs, P. 2003. Difference principles. In Freeman, S. (Ed.), The Cambridge companion to Rawls: 200–240. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
von Platz, J. 2014. Are economic liberties basic rights? Politics, Philosophy, and Economics, 13(1): 23–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Voorhoeve, A. 2005. Incentives and principles for individuals in Rawls’s theory of justice. Ethics and Economics, 3(1): 1–7.Google Scholar
Welch, T., & Ly, M. 2017. Rawls on the justice of corporate governance. Business Ethics Journal Review, 5(2): 7–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, A. 1998. Incentives, inequality, and publicity. Philosophy and Public Affairs, 27(3): 225–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar