Core Definitions
Business
A term that implies a collection of people and material assets that form a conceptual unit, the purpose of which is to engage in activities that generate a profit from the sale of goods or services to a body of consumers (8/23/10) to generate a perpetual stream of profit for its owners (9/1/10).
This term is sometimes used in the collective sense - i.e., "business" as an abstraction to represent every such entity in a given market or economy - however, this is not useful to the present study, as such a perspective leads to the notion that all businesses (firms) are essentially the same, and can be expected to have the same motivation, which is a fallacy (9/1/10).
Ethics
A branch of philosophy that considers "right and wrong" in the context of human action (7/9/10), with a goal of determining, in any given situation, which option is the most desirable by virtue of the consequences of that actions to the actor and other parties. (11/10/10)
Ancillary Definitions
Action (Types/Categories)
- Benevolent Actions - An action that yields benefits for both the actor and other parties(11/7/10)
- Self-Interested Actions - An action that yields benefits for the actor and has neither positive nor negative consequences to other parties(11/7/10)
- Questionable Actions - An action that is beneficial to the actor and negative consequences to other parties(11/7/10)
- Charitable Actions - An action that benefits others while having no appreciable consequences to the actor(11/7/10)
- Inconsequential Actions - An action that is neither beneficial nor harmful to anyone, including the actor(11/7/10)
- Sociopathic Actions - An action that harms others while having no appreciable consequences to the actor(11/7/10)
- Altruistic Actions - An action that has a positive consequence for other parties and negative consequences for the actor(11/7/10)
- Sacrificial Actions - An action that has negative consequences for the actor and no appreciable consequence to any other party(11/7/10)
- Insane Actions - An action that is harmful to the actor and to other parties(11/7/10)
Duty
A "duty" is differentiated from an obligation in that in transcends the specific details of a given situation or action. At all times, in all actions, and under any circumstances, an individual is expected to attend to a duty. (11/18/10)
Neglect
Neglect is defined as the choice not to take an action that would benefit another party, especially when there is the context of a relationship that would lead the other party to reasonably expect the actor to pursue their benefit. (11/16/10) However, neglecting to undertake an action that would render benefit to another party cannot be considered the equivalent of undertaking an action to harm them (11/16/10).
Obligation
Obligation is the requirement for an individual to consider the consequences of an action to other parties in advance of undertaking that action. The goal of obligation is to characterize as desirable that an individual should act in ways that benefit others or refrain from acting in ways that harm others. (11/10/10)
The only permanent obligation is the duty to do no harm to others. All other obligations arise out of the specific circumstances (11/28/10).
A promise is a statement of intent that is presented to another party, with the intention that the second party would accept it as earnest and govern their own actions accordingly. As such, it is reasonable for the second party to consider the first to be obligated to act as intended (11/25/10).
A person is not obligated to fulfill the uncommunicated expectations of others, nor is a person obligated to undertake an action simply because others have an expectation - unless, in the latter case, the actor's previous action has constituted a statement of intent. (12/6/10)
Organization (n)
An organization comprised of people who are gathered under the pretense of acting cooperatively to accomplish a given purpose. (8/23/10)
Property
Items that are understood to belong to an owner, whether an individual or a group, who is entitled to use it or grant permission to others for its use (11/19/10). The notion of property may be applied to physical assets, capital assets, opportunities, or intangibles and is presently considered to be subjective.
Punitive Action
Punitive action seeks to inflict harm on a party for past actions of their own, as a means to discourage similar action in future. This is largely the concern of politics and law, and will be avoided in this blog. (11/10/10)
Relationship
The terms by which two or more parties explicitly agree to act in consideration of the consequences of one another's welfare (12/6/10). The absences of an explicit agreement does not result in the absence of obligation or duty.
Restitution
Restitution describes an action that is undertaken to be compensated for the harm done by another party in the past. (11/10/10)
Society
An abstraction, indefinite in its scope, that is meant to encompass an unknown number of individuals who may not be a party to an action, nor may they be subject to any consequences of that action. As such, it has no specific meaning (10/23/10). As such, references to "society" should be disregarded in favor of a more specific definition of a group of individuals whose interests are reasonably defined.
Transactions
In any instance where an item is provided in the context of a transaction, it is the responsibility of the recipient to provide information and ask questions to ascertain whether it represents the value he seeks to gain from it. The seller is not aware of these facts until told, and is responsible only for being honest in the information he provides, whether in response to questions or in an unsolicited manner. (12/3/10)
When a transaction between parties is repeated, each party has a reasonable expectation that the repeated transaction will be the same as the previous one, and there is an obligation to provide information if either party foresees a difference (11/30/10).
