ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the basic framework of Confucian virtue ethics, demonstrates how it supports a conception of business inseparable from moral ends and the common good. It identifies how a core Confucian virtue, ritual propriety, is relevant to business practices. The chapter shows how some behaviors such as gambling commonly observed in Confucian communities are compatible with virtue ethics and business. It explores how the Confucian moral framework supports the view that the proper end of a business is the promotion of the common good. The chapter focuses on the way Confucians—more specifically, the early Confucians represented in the Analects, Mencius and Xunzi—prioritize moral virtue over material welfare and understand proper governance as requiring the ruler to truly care about the flourishing of the people. Additionally, it identifies and explains how a key virtue in Confucian ethics is relevant to business practice.
