Pricing for a Common Good: beyond Ethical Minimalism in Commercial Practices
Journal
Philosophy of Management
ISSN
1740-3812
2052-9597
Date Issued
2021
Author(s)
Pinto-Garay, Javier
Ferrero, Ignacio
Type
Resource Types::text::journal::journal article
Abstract
Pricing policies and fair-trade practices are critical for sustaining commercial relationships between firms and customers. Nevertheless, in current business practices, fairness has been mistakenly reduced to a minimalistic ethic wherein justice only demands legal and explicit norms to which commercial parties voluntarily agree. Aimed at giving a different explanation of commercial agreements, this paper will introduce a Virtue Ethics (VE) explanation of the relationship between pricing and the common good by taking up classical concepts related to justice in commerce. In particular, we will explore three principles associated with the notion of fairness in commerce as defined in Neo-Aristotelian ethics towards a relationship between a common good and justice in pricing, i.e., proportionality, benevolence and well-being. To exemplify how these criteria of justice apply to decision-making in commercial practices, we will discuss several cases of fair and unfair commercial relationships. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG part of Springer Nature.
How to cite
Pinto-Garay, J., Ferrero, I., & Scalzo, G. (2021). Pricing for a Common Good: beyond Ethical Minimalism in Commercial Practices. Philosophy of Management, 1-2. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40926-020-00162-w