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The Blackwell Encyclopedic Dictionary of Business Ethics edited by Patricia H. Werhane and R. Edward Freeman. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Publishers, 1997, 701 pp., $100.00, cloth [ISBN: 155786942-1].
Reviewed by Diane Swanson, Kansas State University Virginia Gerde, University of New Mexico
The Blackwell Encyclopedic Dictionary of Business Ethics is a book of ethics for all seasons, so to speak. What we mean is that The Dictionary's 350 entries are broadly inclusive of many ethical perspectives, including 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.
The heterogeneous material in The Dictionary suggests an open-minded approach to business ethics. In other words, the tome does not try to "sell" the reader on any one ethical tradition. Moreover, The Dictionary deals not only with ethical traditions but also gives many concrete examples of business practices that call for ethical analysis. For just one example, the reader will find that the concrete goals of affirmative action described by Lisa Newton invoke the tradition of liberty given in an entry by George Brenkert.
In short, the volume blends theory and practice. For editors Patricia Werhane and 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...