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Patricia H. Werhane and R. Edward Freeman. (Eds.). 1997. The Blackwell Encyclopedic Dictionary of Business Ethics. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Publishers. 416 pp., $31.95
When Jeanne Logdson asked us to review The Blackwell Encyclopedic Dictionary of Business Ethics (The Dictionary), we both agreed that the task would be formidable. And it was. The Dictionary's 350 entries are broadly inclusive of many academic perspectives, institutional affiliations, and subjects related to business ethics. Even a cursory glance at the listings in the index reveals a vast array of ethical perspectives, such as those pertaining to duty, fairness, human rights, social justice, the moral treatment of animals, values, social norms, moral reasoning, promise keeping, situational ethics, professional ethics, moral relativism, virtue ethics, the ethics of care, stewardship, and moral agency.
If the reader of The Dictionary expects a narrow focus on the philosophical bases for the ethical perspectives, she or he is in for a surprise. Instead of functioning as a vehicle for philosophical determinism, the heterogeneous material suggests an open-ended approach to business ethics. The idea is that business theory and practice are loaded with normative (ethical and value) dimensions that need to be found, identified, and understood. Metaphorically speaking, The Dictionary can be used as a tool for such purposes, especially because its many descriptions of contemporary social issues unequivocally convey the need for morality in practice. For just one example, the reader will find that the concrete goals of affirmative action described by Lisa Newton invoke the ideals of liberty given in an entry by George Brenkert and of freedom of contract as described by J. Gregory Dees.
In short, the volume blends theory and practice. For editors Patricia H. Werhane and R. Edward Freeman, the publication of this integrative approach is an affirmation that business ethics has become part of mainstream management, management teaching and research, and management practice as well as mainstream philosophy (p. vii).
While keeping in mind that no single review can do justice to The Dictionary, the reader is invited to follow our journey into the volume's layout, content, authorship, usefulness, strengths, and weaknesses. Our references to specific entries along the way merely hint at the extensive array of subjects covered in the tome.
The Dictionary is formatted in two major...