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Business ethics - through time and across context
Edited by Professor Gael McDonald, Professor Göran Svensson
Introduction
What morality ordains in one place or age may be quite different from what morality ordains in another place or age. The moral code of Chinamen is quite different from that of Europeans, that of African Savages quite different from both. Any morality, therefore, is relative to the age, place, and the circumstances in which it is found. It is in no sense absolute ([42] Stace, 1965, p. 27).
This historical statement in today's context appears both racist and inappropriate and in a delightfully subtle way highlights the essential thesis of the theory of ethical relativism while also alluding to what is commonly considered the antithetical theory of ethical absolutism. At the core of ethical relativity is the question, "Do moral principles apply universally, or are all values and ethical judgements relative to their context, particularly time and cultural contexts?"
The constructs of relativism and absolutism have a significant role to play in the development of ethical theory. For example, it has been suggested that an individual's ethical ideology can greatly assist in explaining differences in moral judgement ([16], [17] Forsyth, 1980, 1992; [20] Forsyth et al. , 1988; [19] Forsyth and Nye, 1990; [3], [4] Barnett et al. , 1996, 1998), with idealist individuals maintaining the absolutism of a moral standard in contrast to relativists who shy away from the proposition of universal moral rules. The ethical ideologies of senior Australian managers indicated a negative relationship between relativism and corporate ethical values ([15] Fernado et al. , 2008), while consumers who scored higher on idealism and lower on relativism were more likely to reject questionable activities ([43] Swaidan et al. , 2004). Providing a more generalist conclusion, [18] Forsyth and Berger (1982) have suggested that variations in ethical ideology may predict individual differences in moral judgement but not necessarily moral behaviour.
A strong positive relationship has, however, been found between religiosity and idealism, with idealism providing a good predictor of ethical intentions and behaviours ([38] Oumlil and Balloun, 2009). Also examining idealism and relativism, [8] Bierly et al. (2009) found a positive relationship between creativity and relativism. It appears that creative people are less likely than...