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Marino on 'business ethics'

By David Gonnerman '90
November 11, 2008

"A profound knowledge of ethics and acumen in dissecting problems is by no means incompatible with the kind of rapacious behavior that led to the Wall Street bailout," writes St. Olaf Professor of Philosophy and Kierkegaard Library Curator Gordon Marino on Slate's site, The Big Money, in "Why 'Business Ethics' Fail."

"In fact, with a little bit of legerdemain, the greedy need not even feel guilty," he continues. "As moralists like Bishop Butler and Soren Kierkegaard have made plain, our capacity for self-deception, and for rationalizing what amounts to greed, is boundless."

Contact David Gonnerman at 507-786-3315 or gonnermd@stolaf.edu.