Corporate Social Responsibility in the light of Kant`s categorical

Annales. Etyka w życiu gospodarczym / Annales. Ethics in Economic Life 2015
Vol. 19, No. 1, February 2016, 7–19
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.18778/1899-2226.19.1.01
Krzysztof Tapek
Jagiellonian University,
Chair of Economic Policy on Department of Law and Administration
e-mail: [email protected]
Corporate Social Responsibility in the light of Kant’s
categorical imperative
Immanuel Kant’s philosophy, especially his categorical imperative, is one of several
ethical theories mainly used to morally legitimize actions, referred to as Corporate
Social Responsibility. The aim of the current article is to evaluate if Kant’s philosophy can be used as the ethical foundation for Corporate Social Responsibility as
well as to present its advantages and disadvantages in a theoretical and practical
approach.
Keywords: categorical imperative, Immanuel Kant, Corporate Social Responsibility, business ethics
JEL Classification: M14