This article summarizes some of the results of the BIOMED II project “Basic Ethical Principles in European Bioethics and Biolaw” connected to a research project of the Danish Research Councils “Bioethics and Law”. The BIOMED project was based on cooperation between 22 partners in most EU countries. The aim of the project was to identify the ethical principles of respect for autonomy, dignity, integrity and vulnerability as four important ideas or values for a European bioethics and biolaw. The research concluded (...) that the basic ethical principles cannot be understood as universal everlasting ideas or transcendental truths but they rather function reflective guidelines and important values in European culture. The method of the research was conceptual, philosophical analysis of the cultural background of the four values or normative ideas that people use and find important in their existence. Moreover, this was combined with analysis of empirical legal material and policy documents. Also, a number of qualitative interviews with relevant experts were carried out. Another important result of the BIOMED project was the partner's Policy Proposals to the European Commission, the Barcelona Declaration, unique as a philosophical and political agreement between experts in bioethics and biolaw from many different countries. The Policy Proposals are reprinted here at the end of the article. (shrink)

Business ethics, corporate social responsibility, corporate citizenship, values-driven management, corporate governance, and ethical leadership are necessary ...

From 1995 to 1998, the European Commission supported the “Basic Ethical Principles in European Bioethics and Biolaw” research project. The project was based on cooperation between 22 partners coming from most EU countries. Its aim was to identify the ethical principles relating to autonomy, dignity, integrity and vulnerability as four important ideas or values for a European bioethics and biolaw. An important resume of the BIOMED project was the partner’s Policy Proposals to the European Commission, the Barcelona Declaration of 1998, (...) which is unique as a philosophical and political agreement between experts in bioethics and biolaw from many different countries. In this article, we want to compare the Barcelona Declaration with some other recent international Documents on bioethics and biolaw. We will relate the Barcelona Declaration to the framework of different international documents and codes of conduct about bioethics and biolaw. In particular, we will look at the similarities and differences when compared with the Council of Europe’s Convention for the Protection on of Human Rights and Dignity of the Human Being with Regard to the Application of Biology and Medicine, adopted by the Committee of Ministers in 1996. Moreover, we will look at The UNESCO Declaration on the Humane Genome from 1997. Thus, the Barcelona Declaration does not only represent European ethical principles for bioethics and biolaw, but the document should also be conceived as a conceptual clarification and articulation of major ethical principles, which are central to international concerns for a universal bioethics and biolaw. (shrink)

This article discusses Michael Porter’s paradigm of creating shared value based on the criticism of corporate social responsibility by Milton Friedman in the perspective of contemporary debates on legitimacy and good corporate citizenship. This is a development of the argument presented by Jacob Dahl Rendtorff concerning the liberal property rights paradigm of business ethics in his book Responsibility, Ethics and Legitimacy of Corporations. This article discusses the work that Michael Porter has developed together with Mark Kramer, which can be presented (...) as a strategic approach to business ethics and corporate social responsibility. This work began with Porter’s concept of Strategic Philanthropy Harvard business review on corporate social responsibility, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 2003) which became Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility :78–92, 2006) and gradually developed into the concept of Creating Shared Value :62–77, 2011). We see how Michael Porter integrates the critical perspective on CSR from Friedman in a strategic concept of philanthropy, corporate social responsibility and creating shared value. Accordingly, the concept of creating shared value should be considered as a development of the ideas of strategic philanthropy and corporate social responsibility in the perspective of capitalism and freedom. At the same time, however, the concept of creating shared value is broader and more oriented towards society and towards the idea of profit-based CSR since it integrates the values of society and business in corporate legitimacy. (shrink)

L’article se concentre sur la pandémie de covid-19 dans une tentative d’évaluer la contribution éventuelle de l’analyse philosophique à la compréhension et à la résolution des problèmes éthiques, juridiques et sociopolitiques qu’elle soulève. On aborde une série de dilemmes cruciaux qui requièrent des décisions pratiques, avant et après la production et la disponibilité des vaccins, à la lumière des théories éthiques et politiques contemporaines. Il s’avère que dans la plupart des cas les conceptions déontologiques semblent l’emporter sur les considérations conséquentialistes, (...) qui ne s’imposent à notre raisonnement que dans des situations d’urgence immédiate. La pandémie nous permet également d’apprécier le rôle important des vertus éthiques et épistémiques dans la prise des décisions critiques. (shrink)

The present book comprises thirteen chapters written by Nordic scholars in the human and social sciences, and developed out of conference papers presented at regular winter and summer symposia held by two research groups emanating from the Nordic Summer University. Born within and informed by this specific milieu, the chapters address significant sociopolitical implications for contemporary societies emerging from the ethical reflections of leading 20th century thinkers (e.g. Michel Foucault and Jürgen Habermas), important procedural as well as substantive aspects of (...) democracy, and pivotal ethico-political issues arising from the abstract logic and concrete manifestations of market economies. Though by no means devoid of their own economic, cultural and political problems, the Nordic countries are still paramount examples of humane prosperity, democratic civility, environmentally sound policy, and peaceful resolution of social and industrial conflicts. Year after year, if not decade after decade, they keep topping the international charts for socio-economic indicators about sostainable development, healthcare quality and accessibility, educational levels, crime control, preceived happiness and much else. As such, the scholarly and scientific reflections orginating within the Nordic Summer University might prove to be useful sources of insight for policy-makers, intellectuals and interested persons outside the Nordic context, and not solely inside it. (shrink)

This article is based on an exchange between Peter Kemp and Jacob Dahl Rendtorff on the occasion of Peter Kemp’s seventieth birthday in 2007. It presents the development of Kemp’s ethical philosophy from his philosophy of technology and technology ethics to his philosophy of bioethics and biolaw. It also discusses Kemp’s relation to Existentialism, hermeneutics, phenomenology, and Marxism with the development of a critical hermeneutic philosophy of engagement. This is related to Kemp’s work on humanistic ethics of technology in his (...) book on the ethics of the irreplaceable. The article presents Kemp’s long discussion with Paul Ricœur about the ethics of the good life and about narrative ethics. Finally, it elaborates on the bioethical turn towards an ethics for the living world and discusses the role of basic ethical principles of autonomy, dignity, integrity, and vulnerability in relation to cosmopolitan and global responsibility for sustainability and humanity. (shrink)

Ethische Grundprinzipien in der europäischen Bioethik und im Biorecht” ist der Titel eines Forschungsprojekts, das von 1995 bis 1998 von der EU-Kommission unterstützt wurde. Das Projekt gründete sich auf die Zusammenarbeit von 22 Partnerorganisationen aus der Mehrzahl der EU-Staaten. Es sollten ethische Grundprinzipien ermittelt werden, die sich ableiten aus Autonomie, Würde, Integrität und Verwundbarkeit als den vier Ausschlag gebenden Ideen bzw. Werten, die in der Bioethik und im Biorecht in Europa zum Tragen kommen sollen. Aus dem Resümee des EU-BIOMED-Projektes wurde (...) ein Rahmenprogramm der EU-Kommission abgeleitet und 1998 in der Deklaration von Barcelona festgehalten . Bei dieser Deklaration handelt es sich um einen einzigartigen Text, der die philosophische und politische Übereinstimmung von Experten aus dem Bereich der Bioethik und des Biorechts aus vielen Staaten dokumentiert. Im vorliegenden Artikel soll die Barcelona-Deklaration mit einigen internationalen Dokumenten zu Bioethik und Biorecht jüngeren Datums verglichen werden. Die Autoren stellen die Deklaration in Zusammenhang mit den Richtlinien, die in verschiedenen anderen internationalen Dokumenten und Rechtsvorschriften zum Vorgehen im Bereich der Bioethik und des Biorechts vorgegeben sind. Besondere Aufmerksamkeit gilt dem Vergleich mit der Konvention zum Schutz der Menschenrechte und der Würde der Menschen im Hinblick auf die Bereiche Biologie und Medizin, die 1996 vom EU-Ministerrat verabschiedet wurde. Sodann wurde die UNESCO-Deklaration betreffend des menschlichen Genoms und der Menschenrechte aus dem Jahre 1997 näher untersucht. Die Barcelona-Deklaration präsentiert also nicht nur die in Europa angestrebten ethischen Grundsätze in Bioethik und Biorecht, sondern erläutert und artikuliert ethische Grundprinzipien, die sich weltweit im Mittelpunkt des Interesses für universale Bioethik und Biorecht befinden. (shrink)

Europska komisija je od 1995. do 1998. podupirala istraživački projekt »Temeljni etički principi u europskoj bioetici i biopravu« . Projekt se temeljio na suradnji 22 partnera iz većine država Europske unije. Cilj projekta bio je identificirati etičke principe povezane s autonomijom, dostojanstvom, integritetom i ranjivošću kao četirima važnim idejama ili vrijednostima za europsku bioetiku i biopravo. Važan sažetak BIOMED projekta bio je Prijedlog Smjernica Europskoj komisiji – Deklaracija iz Barcelone iz 1998. godine – koja je jedinstvena jer predstavlja filozofsku i (...) političku suglasnost stručnjaka za bioetiku i biopravo iz mnogih država. U ovome tekstu želimo usporediti Deklaraciju iz Barcelone sa nekim drugim novijim međunarodnim dokumentima o bioetici i biopravu. Povezat ćemo Deklaraciju iz Barcelone sa okvirom koji nude različiti međunarodni dokumenti i propisi o djelovanju u bioetici i biopravu. Posebno ćemo se usmjeriti na sličnosti i razlike sa Konvencijom o zaštiti ljudskih prava i dostojanstva ljudskih bića u pogledu primjene biologije i medicine, koju je prihvatilo Vijeće ministara 1996., te ćemo promotriti i UNESCOvu Deklaraciju o ljudskom genomu iz 1997. Dakle, Deklaracija iz Barcelone ne predstavlja samo europske etičke principe u bioetici i biopravu, nego ujedno pojašnjava i artikulira osnovne etičke principe koji se nalaze u središtu međunarodnog interesa za univerzalnu bioetiku i biopravo. (shrink)

La Comission européenne a soutenu, de 1995 à 1998, le programme de recherche intitulé « Les principes éthiques de base en bioéthique et en bio-droit européens ». Le projet était basé sur la collaboration de 22 partenaires issus de la plupart des pays de l’Union européenne. L’objectif du projet était d’identifier les principes éthiques d’autonomie, de dignité, d’intégrité et de vulnérabilité comme étant les quatre idées et valeurs majeures de la bioéthique et du biodroit européens. Les Propositions et les recommandations (...) à la Commission européenne – la Déclaration de Barcelone de 1998 – constitue un résumé important du projet BIOMED. Cette déclaration est unique dans son genre car elle représente l’unanimité philosophique et politique des experts en bioéthique et en biodroit de nombreux pays. Dans ce texte, nous souhaitons comparer la Déclaration de Barcelone avec quelques nouveaux documents en bioéthique et en biodroit internationaux. Nous situerons la Déclaration de Barcelone dans le cadre proposé par les différents documents internationaux et les règlements relatifs à l’action dans le domaine de la bioéthique et du biodroit. Nous examinerons tout particulièrement les similitudes et les différences par rapport à la « Convention pour la protection des droits de l’homme et la dignité de l’être humain à l’égard des applications de la biologie et de la médecine », adoptée en 1996 par le Conseil des ministres. Enfin, nous étudierons la « Déclaration sur le génome humain » de l’Unesco de 1997. Donc, la Déclaration de Barcelone ne représente pas seulement les principes éthiques européens en matière de bioéthique et de biodroit, mais éclaire et articule les principes éthiques de base se trouvant au coeur de l’intérêt international pour une bioéthique et un biodroit universels. (shrink)

This paper presents a theoretical and practical approach to teaching business ethics, stakeholder management and CSR within the framework of the thematic seminar on business ethics and corporate social responsibility at Roskilde University. Within our programs in English of business studies and Economics and Business Administration the author of this article is responsible for this seminar that integrates issues of CSR and the ethics of innovation into the teaching ofcorporate social responsibility, stakeholder management and business ethics. This research oriented seminar (...) provides a unique possibility for teaching CSR with an integration of methodological, theoretical and practical dimensions of business ethics. The idea is that the thematic seminar represents a tutor supported frame for extended studies of business ethics, stakeholder management and the social aspects of business and entrepreneurship. Each student shall present a paper on the basis of a collection of articles on the topic of ethics and social dimension of business. Moreover, it is required that the student is discussant of two other papers during the course. In addition, students shall prepare interactive participation in discussion of each paper. The sessions begin with a short introduction to the topic by the professor, then student presentations, after this discussant remarks, and finally general discussion followed by an evaluative assessment by the professor. During the seminar the student shall present both theory and case discussion so that we find a close interaction between theory and practice in the presentation. In the following, the paper elaborates on this development, in particular in the relation between theory presentation and case studies. (shrink)

This article presents Jean-Paul Sartre’s concept of the tension between existence and politics and the role of political commitment in existentialist philosophy. Based on Sartre’s concept of engagement, the article analyzes the transition from the personal to the political perceived as a movement from personal moral consciousness to the awareness of the importance of the individual as a social actor and citizen in society. Sartre’s concept of political engagement can be characterized as critical intellectual commitment and “Socratic Citizenship.” Accordingly, this (...) article is also an acknowledgment of the two important philosophers of ecoethica, Tomonbu Imamichi and Peter Kemp, both committed public intellectuals who said that the role of the philosopher is to contribute to the public affair of cosmopolitan society. Thus, the article presents the political engagement in four major parts: (1) From the existential to political engagement, (2) Political commitment as a struggle for human freedom, (3) The Socratic Citizenship, and (4). Conditions of authentic political action. Political engagement represents an effort to realize the respect owed to each individual as a universal singular, as well as that owed to freedom and democracy in the Kingdom of Ends. (shrink)

This book demonstrates how the conceptual resources of contemporary French philosophy from the early 20thCentury to the present day can be applied to give us new perspectives on business ethics and the ethics of organizations. In providing an overview of possible applications,the book covers a wide range of philosophers, philosophical movements and perspectives, and provides detailed analyses of core materials relevant to business ethics. It explores and analyzes French philosophy, taking into account phenomenology,existentialism, French epistemology, structuralism, post-structuralism,deconstruction and postmodernism as (...) well as recent discussions of philosophy of organizations and management. Each chapter contains suggestions for further reading and educational illustrations of possible applications to the mainstream business ethics and ethics of organization literature. (shrink)

Due to the global environmental crisis and problems of climate change, but also the economic problems of neoliberalism and inequality, it is important to rethink our ideas about society, business, and economic organization in the context of a transition to a more sustainable society. Important themes of a political economy of sustainability are Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the philosophical underpinnings of governance and sustainability management. Reforming global economic and political institutions means finding new, creative, and imaginative solutions for managers, (...) administrators, and members of government critically to evaluate our political economy and management concepts and values. It is important to rethink policies and strategies in the light of challenges of the global society. We will do this in what follows by focusing on important topics such as 1) The origin of our contemporary crisis 2) The political economy of the crisis 3) The transformation of governance for lasting change. (shrink)

Using an interdisciplinary focus, this book combines the research disciplines of philosophy, business management and sustainability to aid and advance scholar and practitioner understanding of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

This book presents a selection of articles with focus on the theoretical foundations of business ethics, and in particular on the philosophy of management and on human rights and business. This implies identifying and discussing conflicts as well as agreement with regard to the philosophical and other foundations of business and management. Despite the general interest in corporate social responsibility and business ethics, the contemporary discussion rarely touches upon the normative core and philosophical foundations of business. There is a need (...) to discuss the theoretical basis of business ethics and of business and human rights. Even though the actions and activities of business may be discussed from a moral perspective, not least in the media, the judgments and opinions relating to business and management often lack deeper moral reflection and consistency. Partly for this reason, business ethicists are constantly challenged to provide such moral and philosophical foundations for business ethics and for business and human rights, and to communicate them in an understandable manner. Such a challenge is also of scientific kind. Positions and opinions in the academic field need to be substantiated by thorough moral and theoretical reflection to underpin normative approaches. Far too often, business ethicists may agree on matters, which they approach from different and sometimes irreconcilable philosophical standpoints, resulting in superficial agreement but deeper-lying disagreement. In other cases, it may be of high relevance to identify philosophical standpoints that despite conflicting fundamentals may arrive at conclusions acceptable to everyone. (shrink)

This article presents the influence on Danish philosophy of the French phenomenologist and hermeneutic philosopher Paul Ricœur. Paul Ricœur’s poetic hermeneutics was an inspiration for Danish phenomenology and existentialist thought. Moreover, Ricœur had an influence on the development of poetic and narrative research in theology and the human and social sciences in Denmark. In addition, Ricœur provided a hermeneutic framework for research in the different disciplines of bioethics and biolaw, philosophy of law, philosophy of education and nursing philosophy. In particular, (...) Peter Kemp has been important for presenting and promoting Ricœur’s narrative philosophy. The article gives an overview of the influence of the different aspects of Ricœur’s philosophy in Denmark, related to different schools of thought and to individual philosophers and researchers in theology and the human and social sciences in Denmark. (shrink)

My aim in this analysis is to give a philosophical clarification of the scope of corporate social responsibility within our present market economy. The issue is to what extent social responsibility of the firm is compatible with existing market structures in our present economy. In this context, I will address the conceptions of corporate social responsibility within philosophy, economic theory, and economic sociology. This analysis aims at clarifying the concept of corporate social responsibility within traditional neoclassical economic thought and confronting (...) it with the institutional theory of society. On this basis, I will look on the more fundamental philosophical issue about how it can be possible to ascribe moral personality, responsibility and intentionality to corporations. In this context, I will examine collectivist arguments for corporate responsibility in order to show the limits of a strong collectivist conception of corporate social responsibility. After this, I will look at the nominalist view of corporate social responsibility, which represents the view opposite to the collectivist position. Finally, I will put forward a third possible view on corporate intentionality, which aims at overcoming the oppositions between the collectivist and the nominalist view on corporate social responsibility. (shrink)