Customer Reviews

Do No Evil: Ethics with Applications to Economic Theory and Business

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This excellent volume sets Kant's rationalism on its head and considers the importance of irrationality and the rules rational beings follow in relation to themselves, namely, avoiding death, pain, disability, deception, theft, and violated obligations to oneself. Rational beings (when they are acting rationally) never desire these things for their own sake without a reason. Berumen says universal moral princples can only be based on these rules when we marry them with impartiality, thereby extending them to others. Unlike Kant, he provides concrete rules rather than an empty formula, and, unlike Kant, he does not treat them as absolutes. Rather, it is the exception to them which becomes an absolute, for it must be universalized given the specific universal properties of the relevant facts. Thus, the general moral rules are only tentatively universal insofar as a specific exception cannot be willed. Berumen's chapter on evil, which he defines as death and suffering, is one of the best analyses of the nature of evil I've read. Unlike most proponents of capitalism, Berumen does not justify it on utilitarian grounds, but on the basis that it is wrong to steal or disable another. His chapters on business are interesting and useful, especially the one dealing with the ends or mission of a business. He does not let a business off the moral hook when it is a contributory factor in causing evil, death or suffering, notwithstanding the fact people freely coose to buy its products or work there. With this said, he cautions against using the law as a means of correcting this except in the most greivous cases, for sometimes that causes an even greater moral problem. Berumen's writing is clear and elegant, and his analysis keen. The book is useful for a general audience wanting to know more about ethics and for those who are more philosophically minded. There are typos here and there, but not so many that they get in the way.

One of the few modern philsophy books with practical value...how to live one's life...and theoretical rigour from a philosophical perspective. This is a masterful synthesis of analytical philsophy, normative ethics, economics and business. I highly recommend this to serious students of any of these disciplines. Berumen begins by showing how ethical propositions have meaning and how logic applies to them; he then shows that the folly of moral relativism; and then he comes up with a set of moral principles based on our rational prohibitions and the concept of impartiality, which he contends represent the only universal moral rules possible. Berumen defines evil as the suffering of those who can suffer, whether human or other animals, and he says the basis of universal morality is to avoid causing others to suffer, that which all rational creatures would avoid for themselves without an overriding reason. Berumen then goes on to show how capitalism is more justifiable than socialism from an ethical perspective, primarily on the basis of rules against taking another's property or restricting his freedom to trade or produce. However, Berumen argues that these are not absolute rights...and that one can violate a moral precept when the facts and logic enable one to prescribe a universal exception to the circumstance, such that all rational people would prescribe the same thing given the same facts. Finally, he takes up various business issues such as corporate governance, the environment, selling, and fiduciary responsibility. His comments on the treatment of animals and our duties towards them are among the best I have encountered.

This is a great book in need of more copyediting with some annoying but minor errors in spelling and such. However, the philosphy is superb... it's an excellent survey of ethics in general and, in particular,it puts forth a sound and useful theory, namely, that moral rules are the impartial extensions of our rational requirements, and that exceptions are prescriptions a la Hare...universal formulations that are logical and take into account the specific facts. The moral rules are built on the prohibitions against death, pain, disability, deception, loss of property, and violation of obligations, and, in general, their importance follows this order, though there are exceptions. Rational beings do not want death or pain for its own sake, without some justification. Morality is the impartial extension of this principle to others, but not just rational beings... to those that can suffer.

I liked his stuff on economics, especially on competetion. Among other things, he shows that competition is not antithetical to cooperation, and that many activities necessarily involve competetion, such that society without it is unthinkable.
The only time competition becomes a moral issue is when competitive behavior violates one of the fundamental moral princples.

The section on business has much to recommend it, particularly the section on the nature of a business, where Berumen shows tht a business is someone's property, not a democratic institution brought by the participants.

Well written: clear, non-pedantic, and interesting. The idea is that we have certain rational prohibitions to avoid unnecessary harm to ourselves and that this forms the basis of morality. Berumen says there is no rational requirement to be moral towards others; this comes from joining impartiality with our own rational prohibitions, which requires we extend it to everyone else who can suffer or die, with some proportinate formula for other animals. He comes up with a short list of general maxims...don't kill, cause pain, disable, lie, steal, or violate specified duties/obligations. These are not absolute, however, for we can always come up with a case where an exception would be the right thing to do. We can justify such exceptions by applying a Kantian universal, making it apply all of the time to all such situations. Unlike Kant, Berumen will take specific facts and consequencs into account. He then shows how capitalism, or more specifically, private property and free exchange, are allowed by morality, and why collectivism is morally problematic. Less interesting stuff on business (to me) follows, though I am sure it would be valuable to people interested in the practical business side. The exception (to me) are the chapters on business duties towards animals and the environment. One of the better books on ethics, and the first I have read that really takes a hard look at the concepts underlying socialism and capitalism from an ethical standpoint

Do No Evil is written clearly and logically. A lot of philsophy is either too ethereal or too technical. Berumen starts by laying out the nature of ethics, then proceeds to show what we can and cannot justify as universal princples, and applies these ideas to economics and business. Along the way he shows that capitalism is by default the most moral system, but not something whose princples are invioble, for certain macro moral rules have precedence. Longish, but very good.

Like the physician's oath, the author says the most important moral principle is to do no harm, at least, not without being able to will that what we undertake becomes a universal law covering all the same circumstances. This is an excellent book, especially when it comes to making complicated ideas easy-or easier-to understand. I really liked the section on fiduciary responsibility. The writing is clear and the subject is timely.

One of the most important points the author makes is that the evil done by an individual or business (the death and suffering it causes) is generally more important than the good works that it performs, that is, unless we can make a specific exception to the rule against causing harm a universal prescription. Thus, a polluter despoiling the environment is not relieved of his moral responsibilities because he donates to other environmental causes.

I really don't know if this should be a textbook for an economics, ethics or philosophy class; or if it should be a book read specifically to make one think about the rights and wrongs of life and how to make adjustments so that one can be a better person with decisions that effect daily life. A friend of mine bought it when we were on vacation, but I picked it up when he wasn't reading it and I became quickly absorbed. It's a big book, but it isn't hard to understand, which makes it more valuable to me.