The
philosophy of business considers the fundamental principles that underlie the formation and operation of a business enterprise; the nature and purpose of a business, for example, is it primarily property or a social institution; its role in society; and the moral obligations that pertain to it. The subject is important to
business and
management, and is closely related to
business ethics and
political economy. It is influenced significantly by
philosophy,
ethics, and
economic theory.
One must draw an important distinction between the philosophy of business and business philosophy, which is an appellation that one often hears in the business world. More often than not, the latter designation is intended to denote a way of doing business or a business outlook, a popular use of the term philosophy, instead of its more formal, academic meaning, using the concepts and methods employed by philosophers. The latter meaning applies to the philosophy of business in this article. The phrase philosophy of business also might be used in the same way as business philosophy, for example, "Risk taking represents my philosophy of business." However, this is not the same sense that philosophy is used in this article.
It is a somewhat curious truism that despite the fact that business touches nearly every aspect of our lives, few thinkers have shown an interest in it from a rules or philosophical perspective until relatively recently. Indeed, few philosophers can be said to have paid much attention to the business enterprise, itself, prior to the latter part of the 20th century. Many philosophers tended to look askance at commercial activity, believing, as Plato did, that only the worst sort of people are involved in such matters. Plato is not unlike many academics throughout history, even today, who tend to think of business as a necessary evil in society, and not as something worthy of serious philosophical consideration. To the extent philosophers were concerned with business, they were primarily interested in it from an economic or political standpoint, and not as a primary object of attention.
Although there have been few "philosophers of business", per se, business and economics has not developed in a vacuum. It is built on many tacit philosophical principles and assumptions that we can examine. As a general rule, business practitioners and theorists tend to accept the principles that are current in their society. In the European Middle Ages, for example, the dominant Christian influence resulted in a pricing practice know as just price, and in the Enlightenment the dominant view of economic decision making was one of rationality.
