A Foundational Question

In business ethics, do the means1 justify the ends2, or do the ends justify the
means? Is it better to have a set of rules telling you what you ought to do in any
particular situation and then let the chips fall where they may, or should you worry
more about how things are going to end up and do whatevers necessary to reach
that goal?
Until recently, Eddy Lepp ran an organic medicine business in Northern California.
His herbal product soothed nausea and remedied vomiting, especially as suffered by
chemo patients. He had a problem, though. While his business had been OKd by
California regulators, federal agencies hadnt approved: on the national level,
selling his drug was breaking the law. On the other hand, not selling his remedy had
a significant downside: it was consigning his clients to debilitating suffering. So
when federal agents came knocking on his door, he had to make a decision.
If the means justify the endsif you should follow the rules no matter the
consequencesthen when the agents ask Lepp point blank whether hes selling the
medicine, the ethical action is to admit it. He should tell the truth even though that
will mean the end of his business. On the other hand, if the ends justify the
meansif your ethical interest focuses on the consequences of an act instead of
what you actually dothen the ethics change. If theres a law forcing people to
suffer unnecessarily, it should be broken. And when the agents ask him whether
hes selling, hes going to have an ethical reason to lie.
Across the entire field of traditional ethics, this is a foundational distinction. Is it
what you do that matters, or the consequences? Its hard to get oriented in ethics
without making a preliminary decision between these two. No one can make the
decision for you, but before anyone can make it, an understanding of how each
works should be reached. This chapter will consider ethics as focusing on the
specific act and not the consequences. Theories of duties and rights center
discussion. Chapter 3 "Theories of Consequence Ethics: Traditional Tools for Making