If Aristotle provided the framework for a liberal arts education over 2000 years ago, in which seven virtues are outlined (courage, faith, justice, prudence, temperance, love, and hope) all of which should point the individual onto a path of character development and living with a clear moral compass; then why are these topics still seemingly an unattainable goal of contemporary society, and especially contemporary business practices? (Summary Kolp & Rea, 2006).
Ethics in relation to business has been a dilemma conceivably since the inception of markets and profitability. Obviously, as discussed by Kolp and Rea (2006) in “Leading with Integrity”, there is a disconnect between these two competing schools of thought. In a liberal arts education, the student values ethics, virtue and character, while business student learns about profitability and competence. (p. 13). My question is, how did these two schools of thoughts become mutually exclusive?
I wonder if there is a possibly a supra-truth to this disconnect, that explains why Aristotle hasn’t made any headway in the last 2300 years. Is it possible, that the ideals of a virtuosity and morality have become entirely disengaged at the individual level because individuals are entirely too confined to a distinct system that is supposed to delegate such truths? In other words, a prevailing sense of morality cannot be agreed upon, because societies and cultures are dominated by supra-powers that dictate their own version of morality. And within this dictation, whether by God, the State, or culture at large, virtue and character development is not associated with communal improvement, but with a struggle to be more correct with the other institutions that are at odds with your elected “moral compass”.
So, has the systematic isolation of individual moral codes effectively trumped the work of Aristotle? And, because our world-culture is rampant with conflicting ideologies and social frames, will we as a human race ever agree on a virtuosity that is consistent with the ideals of effective leadership and finally morally sound decision-making? I feel that as long as power structures continue to supersede a communal mentality, then we will be plagued with looking outside ourselves for a solution that has an internal locus.

Comments

[Derecus Slade]

Whitney, I think you make some very important points in regards to Aristotle and the individual moral codes of today. I personally don’t believe Aristotle’s work has been trumped by what you call the “systematic isolation of individual moral codes. “ I’m sure Aristotle work wasn’t the first to trumpet the virtues that he provided. They are found throughout the world in various cultures. Some predates him, some don’t, and some, I’m sure, were inspired by him.

Today, the work of Chris Argyris and Peter Senge in Learning Organizations, and various systems thinkers try to provide insights into the ineffectiveness of power structures that fail to take into account the “communal mentality”. Today the Total Person Concept (which I see as a throwback to the naturalistic holistic views) is used in various private and public organizations. Although we may not be where we would like to be in terms of the Aristotelian views, I think we have in terms of history come a long ways. To put it into context, Aristotle’s work predates the Dark Ages by almost 800 years. Yet even after such a dark period we are talking more about Aristotle now then when he was alive. The fact that we are talking about him in a leadership class is a testament to his work. The way I see it we have a lot of leaders who are a good example of embodying Aristotle’s virtues: Warren Buffet, Oprah, Colin Powell, John F. Kennedy, and Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page.

[Derecus Slade]

Whitney, I think you make some very important points in regards to Aristotle and the individual moral codes of today. I personally don’t believe Aristotle’s work has been trumped by what you call the “systematic isolation of individual moral codes. “ I’m sure Aristotle work wasn’t the first to trumpet the virtues that he provided. They are found throughout the world in various cultures. Some predates him, some don’t, and some, I’m sure, were inspired by him.

Today, the work of Chris Argyris and Peter Senge in Learning Organizations, and various systems thinkers try to provide insights into the ineffectiveness of power structures that fail to take into account the “communal mentality”. Today the Total Person Concept (which I see as a throwback to the naturalistic holistic views) is used in various private and public organizations. Although we may not be where we would like to be in terms of the Aristotelian views, I think we have in terms of history come a long ways. To put it into context, Aristotle’s work predates the Dark Ages by almost 800 years. Yet even after such a dark period we are talking more about Aristotle now then when he was alive. The fact that we are talking about him in a leadership class is a testament to his work. The way I see it we have a lot of leaders who are a good example of embodying Aristotle’s virtues: Warren Buffet, Oprah, Colin Powell, John F. Kennedy, and Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page.

[ChrisB]

It would seem that one of our hopes for such an outcome—“a virtuosity that is consistent with the ideals of effective leadership”—is business leaders infused with liberal arts education. Your questions and assertions certainly stimulate several of my own soap-box topics of rant about corporate greed, the inequities of capitalism, and the domination of wealth—all of which seem to lurk as ill-set cornerstones of current economies.

Your thoughts about “power structures” superseding “communal mentalities” are insightful. The power structures behind organizations should be leading the way towards some sort of common ground of economic virtue. It is my hope that as globalization continues to challenge organizations to evolve, issues of sustainability and disparity of resources and human wellness will drive organizations to redefine their mission. Increasingly, organizations find themselves on center stage of a world-wide audience: We’ll all be watching and judging which organizations are worthy of our patronage. Leaders who understand the something-bigger-than-themselves category of value, for their organizations as well as for themselves, will lead the way.