Care as a Corporate Virtue

Abstract

Bill Gates has called for more philanthropic capitalism, noting that although there are strong mechanisms for the generation of profit in capitalism, there are few incentives to meet the basic needs of others when doing so does not seem financially profitable (Gates 2009). What is needed, according to Gates, are caring individuals to use capitalism creatively to generate broad social welfare in profitable ways. In this paper, I use a feminist care ethic to expand on Gate's suggestion in a specific way, arguing for care to be understood as a corporate virtue, or a morally admirable trait conducive to individual and social flourishing, that inclines business agents to care-about and for others. More precisely, I argue that virtuously caring corporations should support the care responsibilities of their employees, especially women, and care broadly about the welfare of those vulnerable to their policies. In the first section I explain why understanding care as a corporate virtue is justified. In the second section I explore the conceptual aspects of care as a corporate virtue and give some examples of caring corporate policies. Finally, I outline the scope of care as a corporate virtue, defend against the charge that this proposal is unjust to corporations, and explain how such a virtue might be motivationally implemented.