Returning to Rawls: Social Contracting,Social Justice,and Transcending the
Limitations of Locke |
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Authors: | Richard Marens |
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Institution: | (1) California State University, CBA/6000 J Street, Sacramento, CA 95819, USA |
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Abstract: | A generation ago, the field of business ethics largely abandoned analyzing the broader issue of social justice to focus upon
more micro concerns. Donaldson applied the social contract tradition of Locke and Rawls to the ethics of management decision-making,
and with Dunfee, has advanced this project ever since. Current events suggest that if the field is to remain relevant it needs
to return to examining social and economic fairness, and␣Rawl’s approach to social contracting suggests a way to start. First,
however, the field needs to discard the weaker and counterproductive aspects of its Lockean legacy: Locke’s hostility to government
activism and his indifference with regard to outcomes for the bulk of society. Donaldson’s and Dunfee’s social contracting
approach is not suited to, nor was it designed to, analyze or resolve broad issues of social and economic justice. Their postulated
network of communities upon which they rely is problematic in a number of ways, and while they take the legal and political
status quo into account, their method does not deal with the historical reality that, as the economic and social environment
changes, promoting greater justice requires new and sometimes coercive government interventions. Rawls’s work, however, does
acknowledge the historically demonstrable necessity of using the power of government to help to achieve desirable social outcomes.
While he rejected Mill’s methodology, Rawls was inspired by the earlier philosopher’s concerns for social justice at a time
of major economic change. The field would do well to follow the example of both men in this respect.
Richard Marens is an Assistant Professor in Management at California State University, Sacramento. He has published articles
on shareholder activism, management history, employee ownership, corporate law, and the evolution of Catholic Social Teaching.
He is currently researching the social role of finance from both historical and contemporary perspectives. |
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Keywords: | Donaldson Dunfee economic justice Locke Mill Rawls social contract Whig |
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