Law and Morality of Business
Law and Morality of Business

Summary/Abstract: This scientific paper intends to analyze the legalist approach of business activities, trying to argue that, beside the conformity with the law, successful companies are expected to take on ethical responsibilities. The first part rejects two schools of thought which dominate the legalist approach: one claims that law prevails in public life, whereas ethics is a private matter; the second claims that the law embodies the whole ethics of business. The second part develops the notion that the individual and collective attitude towards legality is not a legal matter, but an ethical commitment. The third part present five arguments proving that strict legality cannot solve all of the ethical issues in business. The final part presents three case studies, as empirical evidence that legal regulations and ethical standards of business do not always get along.

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