Economic ethics, business ethics and the idea of mutual advantages

In the global society, the economy plays a dominant role. After the downfall of communism, a globalised market has emerged that extends across nearly all countries and regions. But, in theoretical discussions as well as in public opinion, the role of the economy is often in doubt. This is especially the case in ethics. On the one hand, there are those who see the capitalist market economy as the key to the promotion of ethical ideals like peace and prosperity. On the other hand, there are many others who believe this market economy to be a major threat to national and international solidarity, to cultural pluralism, and to a sense of community. Who is right? This problem might be discussed in different ways. The task of a philosopher, I think, lies in questioning whether the categories and arguments used in this discussion are adequate: we might be stuck with categories and arguments that were fit to answer the problems of a different time or era or of a different problem situation. And if we are using inadequate, ill-adapted, categories, we cannot realistically hope to solve the problems at hand: we will run into insoluble dilemmas. And we have reason to believe that at least some questions of ethics belong to this group. This is the main point I will argue for in this paper: the categories of traditional ethics, which are still used to evaluate the structure of modern societies, were formed within pre-modern societies. They are not fruitful for evaluating modern societies and their economies anymore. We need a conception of ethics that (a) goes beyond the traditional idea of a fundamental contradiction between ethics and economics, and (b) uses economics as a resource for re-thinking ethical concepts. Before elaborating on this thesis, let me give an example for illustration.