Ethics, Economics, and Business Management - Richard Robinson

The economic context of this text is presented at the level of an introductory micro-economics course. Some calculus is presented in footnotes in a few chapters, except for Chapter IX where it is used for the development of the concepts of market power. Since elementary calculus is required in the undergraduate curriculum for both economics and business students, this mathematical and associated graphical analysis is appropriate for this exploration. Those wishing to avoid this mathematics, however, should still benefit from the material of pages 1 - 6, and 22 - 30 of Chapter IX, where mathematical expositions are not present. It should be recognized that the mathematical sophistication utilized in this text does not exceed that usually found in intermediate microeconomics texts. Of course not all of modern ethical philosophy as it applies to economics and business decisions could be included in any single text. In particular, I have not included the considerably important explorations of the Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen because his work is largely focused on the public policy implications of economics rather than the foundations of individual decision making. The latter is the subject of this text although public policy implications are also partly reviewed. Perhaps a more extensive analysis can be authored in the future so that disappointed instructors can be better served.