The philosophical foundations of financial ethics

Abstract

The chapter gives an overview of four moral theories forming the philosophical foundation of financial ethics: utilitarian theory, deontology, justice theory and virtue ethics and it lays out why financial ethics has been largely absent in the finance academy. After defining ethics and describing its main characteristics, the chapter continues with a short history of ethics from Ancient Greece to Continental Existentialism and Anglo-American Analytic Philosophy. It evaluates the two main reasons for the neglect and outright dismissal of financial ethics: Ethical Relativism and Modern Finance Theory.