Moral Blindness in Business: A Social Theory of Evil in Organizations and Institutions

ISBN-13: 9783030488598 / Angielski / Miękka / 2021 / 307 str.

Jacob Dahl Rendtorff

Recenzje

"This is an interesting book and a serious contribution to a real problem in the running of modern corporations." (Nordicum-Mediterraneum, Vol. 16 (1), 2021)

Spis treści

Chapter 1: Introduction.- Part 1: Foundations and history of theory of moral blindness.- Chapter 2: For the Love for the world. The banality of evil in the light of Arendt's political and social theory. - Chapter 3: Judgment's Historical Responsibility: Hannah Arendt and our conception of the Holocaust.- Chapter 4: Adolf Eichmann as the prototype of the evil manager and administrator.- Part 2: Systematic elements of the concept of moral blindness in social theory.- Chapter 5: Interpretations of evil in modern philosophy and social theory:  What significance for ethics and philosophy of management?.- Chapter 6: Moral Blindness and Modernity. Interpretations and developments of Arendt’s concept of banality of evil.- Chapter 7: Moral Blindness and Modernity. Interpretations and developments of Arendt’s concept of banality of evil.- Part 3: Towards a management philosophy of judgment and ethical formulation competency.- Chapter 8: Totalitarianism, practical reason and judgment: Philosophical foundations for business ethics and philosophy of management.- Chapter 9: Perspectives for Responsibility, Moral Thinking and Imagination in Management and Public Administration.- Chapter 10: Political philosophy of responsibility for democratic societies. Judgment in Politics, Management and Administration.- Chapter 11: Conclusion: Towards Moral Thinking Unlimited.

O autorze

Jacob Dahl Rendtorff is Professor of Philosophy of Management at Roskilde University, Denmark. Rendtorff’s research includes philosophy, ethics, business ethics, bioethics and social theory. Rendtorff has published many articles and books, including Cosmopolitan Business Ethics: Towards a Global Ethos of Management (2017) and Philosophy of Management and Sustainability. Rethinking Business Ethics and Social Responsibility in Sustainable Development (2019).

Blurb

"Also managers are human beings: this compelling book offers an ethical conception of management, which is highly relevant to our times, where the balance of power between corporations and the state is in flux. Against the sociological view that managers simply do whatever they have to do dictated by the pragmatic requirements of the market, Jacob Dahl Rendtorff develops a powerful, original and ethically challenging conception of managers as subjects of judgment and imagination. He discusses the works of Hannah Arendt and in particular her work on Eichmann as the basis for this ethics of judgment. The book is lucid as well as thought provoking."

- Dr. Reidar Due, Fellow, Oxford University

In this book, Jacob Dahl Rendtorff investigates moral blindness in business and public administration based on Hannah Arendt’s concept of banality of evil in her famous report on the Nazi-criminal Adolf Eichmann trail in Jerusalem in 1961. Moral blindness and evil in management is instrumental wrongdoing inflicted upon human beings as a violation of their dignity and humanity. Organizational evil in business, bureaucracies and public administration is analysed with focus on obedience to authority and systemic role conformity of managers and administrators. This includes the critical question about how concepts of banality of evil and moral blindness can explain ethical insensibility and lack of moral understanding in business and administration. Rendtorff proposes a humanistic vision of management and ethical leadership. Moral thinking, responsibility and moral judgment is essential in management and governance in business and administration. 

This book is a must-read for academics and practitioners studying and working in philosophy of management, business ethics, political philosophy, administration ethics and corporate social responsibility.