Price Fixing and Philosophy
In looking at price fixing in terms of philosophy, one can apply many ethical theories in order to understand the motives of such individuals who employ it as well as help individuals understand why the practice itself is an unethical one. In beginning a philosophical assessment, one can first look at several consequentialist theories, which employ a general cost-benefit analysis to one's actions.
University of Tennessee professor James Fieser (2010) notes that consequentialism states that an action is morally right if the consequences of that action are more favorable than unfavorable, and this applies directly to executives who believe that should they engage in price fixing and get away with it, the consequences will bring in significant profits for a company and therefore will benefit the company collectively as well as themselves (Feisher, 2009, p.1). In viewing this in such a manner, one can more directly see the internal thoughts of executives who are looking for a way to internally justify their actions before employing them.
Further, one can employ the theory of ethical egoism to these executives, who deem that their actions are morally right if the consequences of that action are more favorable than unfavorable for themselves. Ethical egoists essentially look out for themselves alone in determining their actions, and this can be viewed as true in terms of executives engaging in price fixing. Though these individuals generally assert that the good...
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Feiser, J. (2009). Ethics. Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Web. Retrieved from:
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Lawrence, P. And Sonnenfield, J. (1978). Why do companies succumb to price fixing?
Harvard Business Review. Web. Retrieved from: http://hbr.org/1978/07/why-do-companies-succumb-to-price-fixing/ar/1 on, 19 September 2011.
Philosophy and Price Fixing
