Business Ethics as a Method of Philosophical Inquiry in Business and Economic Life

This paper presents a concept of business ethics as a method of philosophical inquiry in business and economic. The proposes a concept of business ethics as developed in the book Responsibility, Ethics and Legitimacy of Corporations (by Jacob Dahl Rendtorff, 2009) where business ethics is defined as a fundamental philosophical concept of corporations in a globalized world. It is argued that business ethics should be conceived as a holistic concept that integrates different ethical theories in “Republican business ethics”, based on the idea of “the good life for and with the other in just institutions” with duty, care and concern for state, community and civil society. Business ethics is in this sense not only limited to national corporate citizenship, but it also includes an international dimension based on global responsibility in cosmopolitan business ethics.