Business Ethics in Germany: Problems, Concepts, and Functions

In: Zeitschrift für Wirtschafts- und Unternehmensethik, Band 8, Heft 3, S. 250-269

Abstract

"This paper addresses the question of why business ethics did not become a standard part of research
and academic education in German-speaking countries until now. It traces this trend back to experiences
of the dictatorship prior to World War II. Until the 1980s, Max Weber's concept of value-free
scientific statements dominated the discipline. Since the mid-1980s, several positions and concepts of
business ethics have been suggested, all of which failed to garner the acceptance of business ethics.
Therefore, an alternative, analytical concept of business ethics is developed which separates between
logical, empirical and normative dimensions of ethical problems." (author's abstract)