Chapter 10: A Defense of Kierkegaardian Arguments for Divine Authority

Philosophical considerations of how humans ought to think, act and behave, extend far back into history. For example, these ethical considerations include literary classics like The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Torah, and The Republic, et cetera. And, all these philosophical considerations theorize which innate values are desirous for humans, which rules and norms humans are to follow, what direction(s) should be heeded from god(s) and the proper governance of humans, including the treatment and respect to be given to each other (Annas, 2017). With over 3,000 years of ethical considerations by philosophers regarding what humans ought to do, be, feel or think existing in carefully preserved scholarship, one would assume modern scholars who are asking questions pertaining to ethical considerations, regardless of the academic guild, would depend heavily on these robust historic writings. But Academy of Management scholars and management scholars in general, largely ignore this robust scholarship, and choose to forge their own unguided reality as to the nature of ethics, resulting in a plebian sophistry at best or chicanery at worst. An attestation to the great divide between classical philosophy and applied business ethics can be clearly seen from one of the academy’s premier applied ethics meetings.