Abstract

In this paper, I consider the tremendous growth in the field of business ethics with reference to the way it is being "marketed". One hears the sales pitch that businesses ought to pay more attention to business ethics because doing so will in fact bring significant rewards. The bottom line here is self-interest. Given that the relationship between self-interest and morality has always been problematic in our tradition, I argue that we have some hard thinking to do about what the bottom line in business ethics is, and about how business ethics ought to be marketed. In this regard, I briefly invoke several classics in our moral tradition and examine the ethics of business ethics in their light.