v1n15: Buckley on Marcoux

“On the Essential Nature of Business” by Michael Buckley

A COMMENT ON Alexei M. Marcoux (2009), “Retrieving Business Ethics from Political Philosophy,” J Priv Ent 24(2): 21–33

Abstract: Alexei Marcoux has argued that business ethics should focus less on organizational form and more on business practice. He suggests that a definition of ‘business’ as “a(n intentionally) self-sustaining, transaction-seeking and transaction-executing practice” can help facilitate this shift by attuning researchers to the essential activity of business. I argue that this definition has troubling implications for a practice-based approach to business ethics, and that anyone advocating such an approach would be better served by treating ‘business’ as a cluster concept.

To download the full PDF, click here: Buckley on Marcoux.