ABSTRACT

In this chapter, the author endeavors to tell the story of these dual tendencies in the history of philosophy, the one sympathetic and the other in tension with the project of business ethics. He indicates some of the more notable ways in which these tendencies have been reflected and adopted by present-day business ethicists. This historical survey, along with the contemporary emanations of each phase, is divided into four chronologically ordered parts, each posing a distinct approach to commerce. As such, the story of philosophy's relation to business turns out to be this: business begins under moral suspicion; it is then morally accepted and praised; from there, business is put beyond saving; it ends up being redeemable under specified conditions. It is tempting to attribute the stigma against business among the ancient philosophers to the fact that they lived in agrarian societies.