ABSTRACT
As Adam Smith and other advocates of utilitarianism maintained, it is an unquestionable fact that self-interest is the fundamental motivation for man's willingness to work and do business. The fact that there are some ethical principles or values that characterise economics can be ascertained by analysing its origins. The development of modern economy originated from the desire to improve the living conditions of people and of society in general. Even though a number of socio-economic reasons, such as mass production, consumerism and globalisation, have weakened the link between the economy on the one hand and progress/ethicality on the other, civil society takes a position whenever the capitalist system does not apply recognised ethical principles. In a free market, each company has an institutional and social dimension in addition to an economic dimension that pushes it to maximise shareholders' profits.
