…The usual approach to ethical theory in business ethics texts is to present either in cursory from or sometimes in greater detail the theory of utilitarianism based on the writings of Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill as representative of a more general class of teleological ethics, and Kantian ethical theory related to the categorical imperative as representative of the deotological approach to ethical decision making. These texts then go on to present certain notions of justice, usually going into the egalitarianism of John Rawls and opposing libertarianism of Robert Nozick. They also generally include a discussion of rights, and at times, some variation of virtue theory.
What we are left in this approach is a kind of ethical smorgasbord in which one chooses from various theories that are supposed to shed some light on the ethical problems under consideration and lead to a justifiable decision. But we are never told to any extent exactly how we are to decide which theory to apply in a given situation, what guidelines we are to use in applying these different theories, what criteria determine which theory is best for a given problem, and what to do if the application of different theories results in totally different courses of action. Further, what implications does switching back and forth between theories and their corresponding principles have for the ethical enterprises as a whole?
The authors of these textbooks usually recognize the problem but do not deal with it to any great extent. For example, after presenting the theories of consequentialism, deontology, and what they call human nature ethics--which seems to be a variation of virtue ethics-Tom Donaldson and Patricia Werhane state:
Indeed, these three methods of moral reasoning are sufficiently broad that each is applicable to the full range of problems confronting human moral experience. The question of which method, if any, is superior to the others must be left for another time. The intention of this essay is not to substitute for a thorough study of traditional ethical theories-something for which there is no substitute--but to introduce the reader to basic modes of ethical reasoning that will help to analyze the ethical problems in business that arise in the remainder of the book…