{"id":450,"date":"2019-03-18T19:51:44","date_gmt":"2019-03-18T19:51:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/big10-friends-paper-workshop-2019\/?page_id=450"},"modified":"2019-04-04T16:06:32","modified_gmt":"2019-04-04T16:06:32","slug":"robert-hughes-wharton-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/big10-friends-paper-workshop-2019\/robert-hughes-wharton-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Robert Hughes, Wharton"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kantian Ethics in Competitive Contexts<\/strong><\/p>\n

Competitive business contexts may appear to present a puzzle for Kantian ethical theory. Some interpretations of Kant’s Formula of Universal Law imply, implausibly, that most or all competitive activities are immoral. This paper will argue that, contrary to some appearances, Kantian ethics is entirely compatible with competitive activities. Competition is morally permissible as long as one accepts ethical side constraints (rules of the game) and as long as one takes a broad view of the activity’s purpose. One must value the competition not solely for the sake of winning, but also for the sake of the activity itself or for the sake of the role it plays in a wider social context, such as its contribution to efficient economic production.<\/p>\n

The paper will further argue that Kantian ethical theory presents a helpful and plausible account of the ethics of responding to competitors’ aggressive business practices. When competitors violate burdensome laws or other norms that protect third parties, Kantian ethics typically does not permit a business to follow suit to protect its market position. For example, Kantian ethics does not permit a business to respond to a competitor’s deceptive advertising by engaging in deceptive advertising of its own. Kantian ethics does permit a business to engage in some other sharp forms of self-defense against aggressive conduct by competitors. For example, it is not wrong to protect one’s business from industrial espionage by leaving false information where hackers working for a competitor might find it.<\/p>\n

Hughes, kant-competition-bigten<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kantian Ethics in Competitive Contexts Competitive business contexts may appear to present a puzzle for Kantian ethical theory. Some interpretations of Kant’s Formula of Universal Law imply, implausibly, that most … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":217,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-450","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nRobert Hughes, Wharton - Big Ten and Friends Paper Workshop 2019<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/big10-friends-paper-workshop-2019\/robert-hughes-wharton-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Robert Hughes, Wharton - Big Ten and Friends Paper Workshop 2019\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Kantian Ethics in Competitive Contexts Competitive business contexts may appear to present a puzzle for Kantian ethical theory. Some interpretations of Kant’s Formula of Universal Law imply, implausibly, that most … Read More\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/big10-friends-paper-workshop-2019\/robert-hughes-wharton-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Big Ten and Friends Paper Workshop 2019\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-04-04T16:06:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/big10-friends-paper-workshop-2019\/robert-hughes-wharton-2\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/big10-friends-paper-workshop-2019\/robert-hughes-wharton-2\/\",\"name\":\"Robert Hughes, Wharton - Big Ten and Friends Paper Workshop 2019\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/big10-friends-paper-workshop-2019\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-03-18T19:51:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-04-04T16:06:32+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/big10-friends-paper-workshop-2019\/robert-hughes-wharton-2\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/big10-friends-paper-workshop-2019\/robert-hughes-wharton-2\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/big10-friends-paper-workshop-2019\/robert-hughes-wharton-2\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/big10-friends-paper-workshop-2019\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Robert Hughes, Wharton\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/big10-friends-paper-workshop-2019\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/big10-friends-paper-workshop-2019\/\",\"name\":\"Big Ten and Friends Paper Workshop 2019\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/big10-friends-paper-workshop-2019\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Robert Hughes, Wharton - Big Ten and Friends Paper Workshop 2019","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/big10-friends-paper-workshop-2019\/robert-hughes-wharton-2\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Robert Hughes, Wharton - Big Ten and Friends Paper Workshop 2019","og_description":"Kantian Ethics in Competitive Contexts Competitive business contexts may appear to present a puzzle for Kantian ethical theory. Some interpretations of Kant’s Formula of Universal Law imply, implausibly, that most … Read More","og_url":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/big10-friends-paper-workshop-2019\/robert-hughes-wharton-2\/","og_site_name":"Big Ten and Friends Paper Workshop 2019","article_modified_time":"2019-04-04T16:06:32+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/big10-friends-paper-workshop-2019\/robert-hughes-wharton-2\/","url":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/big10-friends-paper-workshop-2019\/robert-hughes-wharton-2\/","name":"Robert Hughes, Wharton - Big Ten and Friends Paper Workshop 2019","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/big10-friends-paper-workshop-2019\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-03-18T19:51:44+00:00","dateModified":"2019-04-04T16:06:32+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/big10-friends-paper-workshop-2019\/robert-hughes-wharton-2\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/big10-friends-paper-workshop-2019\/robert-hughes-wharton-2\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/big10-friends-paper-workshop-2019\/robert-hughes-wharton-2\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/big10-friends-paper-workshop-2019\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Robert Hughes, Wharton"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/big10-friends-paper-workshop-2019\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/big10-friends-paper-workshop-2019\/","name":"Big Ten and Friends Paper Workshop 2019","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/big10-friends-paper-workshop-2019\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/big10-friends-paper-workshop-2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/450"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/big10-friends-paper-workshop-2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/big10-friends-paper-workshop-2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/big10-friends-paper-workshop-2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/217"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/big10-friends-paper-workshop-2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=450"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/big10-friends-paper-workshop-2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/450\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":522,"href":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/big10-friends-paper-workshop-2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/450\/revisions\/522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/big10-friends-paper-workshop-2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}