A major client has requested that your company make a $50,000 donation to a political campaign they strongly support. They have implied that this would “strengthen our business relationship.” The campaign supports policies that would generally benefit your industry. Your company has traditionally remained politically neutral, but there is no specific policy prohibiting political contributions.If the company wants to apply virtue ethics, which of the following responses best demonstrates this framework?

Question

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

The scenario presents a major client asking for a substantial political donation (50,000) to support a campaign, with a hint that this would strengthen the business relationship. The question asks which response best demonstrates virtue ethics.

Option a: Decline the donation request while explaining the company’s tradition of political neutrality, demonstrating integrity and independence.
- This response aligns with virtue ethics by emphasizing character and integrity. It upholds the company’s stated stance of neutrality and shows consistency in behavior, which are key aspects of a virtuous character. It avoids complicity in political influence and demonstrates independence, a virtue that fosters trust and reputational steadiness. The explanation reinforces a coherent moral identity rather than yielding to pressure.

Option b: Make the donation to please the client and potentially benefit from favorable policies.
- This option reflects instrumental reasoning tied to external rewards rather than virtue. It treats moral choices as a means to an ends (client satisfaction and future benefits), which undermines the cultivation of virtuous character. It risks compromising integrity for short-term advantage and signals susceptibility to external influence.

Option c: Suggest the client and company jointly donate to a non-political charity instead.
- While this could be seen as a compromise that channels resources toward a beneficial outcome, it still concedes to the client’s underlying demand without addressing the ethical concern directly. It doesn’t necessarily demonstrate the commitment to neutrality and independence that virtue ethics would emphasize in this context, though it may reflect prudence or generosity in a different framing.

Option d: Make a smaller donation to show goodwill without fully committing to the client’s request.
- This approach attempts to balance goodwill with caution, but it still concedes to the client’s influence in a political arena. It might reflect pragmatism or conflict avoidance more than a robust demonstration of virtue. It could be interpreted as a partial compromise that does not fully embody the steadfast moral character central to virtue ethics as framed in this scenario.

In sum, the options vary in how they anchor decisions in character, integrity, and principled neutrality. Each choice hinges on how the company weighs moral identity against external pressure and potential outcomes, with virtue ethics best illustrated by actions that consistently reflect an honorable, neutral, and independientes character rather than yielding to client influence or redirecting resources to different causes. The analysis of each option highlights why some choices align more closely with virtuous conduct and others reveal tensions with it.

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