Aristotle is thought to have invented this word, meaning roughly 'practical wisdom'.
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Heinz J. Schaefer has written:
'Phronesis bei Platon' -- subject(s): Ancient Ethics, Ethics
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Plato's four cardinal virtues are wisdom (phronesis), courage (andreia), moderation (sophrosyne), and justice (dikaiosune). These virtues are seen as essential qualities for leading a just and fulfilling life according to Plato's philosophy.
2 answers
Aristotle believed that the word for clear and ordered thinking that was the basis of a good life is "phronesis," which translates to practical wisdom or prudence. It involves the ability to make sound judgments in practical matters to achieve the highest good.
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The etymological definition of a "philosopher" is "lover of wisdom." Therefore, a philosopher is someone who ultimately values wisdom, in other words, someone who seeks it. The ancient Greek philosophers used the word 'sophia' in different ways. For example, originally, Homer used it in connection with craftsmanship, but Aristotle later used it to refer to the highest intellectual virtue (as opposed to phronesis or practical wisdom).
1 answer
The etymological definition of a "philosopher" is "lover of wisdom." Therefore, a philosopher is someone who ultimately values wisdom, in other words, someone who seeks it. The ancient Greek philosophers used the word 'sophia' in different ways. For example, originally, Homer used it in connection with craftsmanship, but Aristotle later used it to refer to the highest intellectual virtue (as opposed to phronesis or practical wisdom).
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THE TOURISM INDUSTRY OF ETHICS AND TOURISM
Lecturer PhD Constanţa ENEA
Constantin Brancuşi University Tg-Jiu
Abstract:
The tourism industry is one of the largest industries in the world, and despite
recent events that have made its operating environment more complex, the
industry continues to grow [Theobald, 2005, Global Tourism, 3rd
edn
.,
Butterworth-Heinemann/Elsevier]. Commensurate to the size of the industry
is a growth in the number of students pursuing degree courses in tourism
around the world. Despite an increasingly sophisticated literature, the relative
recency of the industry and its study has meant little attention has been paid
in the ethics literature to the dilemmas facing tourism managers and its
students. Based on interviews with senior members of the tourism industry
six scenarios are developed with pertinence to the challenges faced by
industry practitioners today.
Keywords: ethics in tourism, ethical decision-making
Ethics and tourism
The substantial growth of tourism
activity clearly marks tourism as one of
the most remarkable economic and
social phenomena of the past century.
The number of international arrivals
shows an evolution from a mere 25
million international arrivals in 1950 to
over 700 million in 2002, corresponding
to an average annual growth rate of
6.6% [World Tourism Organization,
2005]. In addition to the numerical
growth of tourism, there has been an
increasing geographic spread of tourism
to encompass almost all the reaches of
the globe.
Simultaneously, there has been a
diversification of thetourism product
from the traditional sun, sea andsand
offering to a product that can be
potentially more intrusive, or more
beneficial for those living in the tourism
destination. Tourism's expansion has
meant the industry now represents the
leading source of foreign exchange in at
least 38% of countries, and ranks in the
top five industries for exports in 83% of
countries [WTO, 2005].
However, in addition to the oftcited economic indicators displaying the
dominance of the tourism industry, there
has been a commensurate and almost
equally well-publicised rise and
recognition of the potentially negative
impacts of the burgeoning tourism
industry [Archer et al., 2005].
Researchers have been critical of the
pernicious social and environmental
impacts the industry can have from
reinforcing western domination over
developing countries through the
'host/guest' relationship [Smith and
Brent, 2001] to the visual scars on the
landscape caused by ski resorts or golf
courses [Hudson, 2000]. This has led to
calls for the industry to exercise greater
responsibility and ''professionalism''
[Sheldon, 1989] in order to protect the
''golden goose'' [Manning and
Dougherty, 1995] and mirrors the
arguments for greater corporate and
social responsibility in other industries
[Huberman- Arnold and Arnold, 2001;
Miller, 2001; Rondinelli and Berry, 2000;
Webley, 1999].
Corporate Social Responsibility
[CSR] is a specific application of the
notion of environmental and social
auditing to business practice. The
technique is strongly promoted by Fair
Trade in Tourism [2002] which suggests
that the technique of CSR emerged in 167
the late 1990s out of NGO efforts to
create a more equitable international
trade system. According to Mowforth
and Munt [2003] the tourism industry is
well behind other industries in terms of
CSR, and the absence of ethical
leadership in the tourism industry has
been 'astounding' [p. 168].
However, in the last few decades,
responsible tourism has emerged as a
significant trend in the western world, as
wider consumer market trends towards
lifestyle marketing and ethical
consumption have spread to tourism
[Goodwin and Francis, 2003].
Tourism organizations are
beginning to realise that promoting their
ethical stance can be good business as
it potentially enhances a company's
profits, management effectiveness,
public image and employee relations
[Fleckenstein and Huebsch, 1999;
Hudson and Miller, 2005]. Yet, although
more attention is now being paid to
ethics in tourism [Holden, 2003; Kalisch,
2002] there is a very weak foundation of
research into tourism ethics studies to
date [Fennell, 1999].
The consequence is that the
arguments presented for and against
CSR in tourism are often simplistic and
largely without any practical evidence.
Ethical decision-making
The two approaches to ethical
decision-making which have received
most attention in the literature are those
reliant on the theories of deontology and
teleology [McDonald and Beck-Dudley,
1994]. A deontological approach enjoys
a rich historical legacy, dating back to
philosophers such as Socrates, 384
Simon Hudson and Graham Miller and
more recently to the work of Kant.
Deontology is concerned with the idea
of universal truths and principles, which
should be adhered to regardless of the
circumstances. Kant's categorical
imperative states that a person faced
with a problem should be able to
respond consistently and in conformity
with their moral principles and also feel
comfortable with the decision being
made in full view of others. A
teleological view can be understood as
''consequentialism'' [Kaynama et al.,
1996] following from the philosophical
work of Jeremy Bentham and John
Stuart Mill on utilitarianism.
Thus, ethical decisions are made
in view of expected outcomes, which
eliminate the universality of decisions
and subordinates principles to context.
A common expression for the two
approaches would be that deontology
places the means as more important
than the end, while for teleology it is the
end that justifies the means.
Understanding these theories helps to
successfully employ the various ''tools''
that exist to control the tourism industry,
ranging from market-based instruments
such as taxes through to more
command and control instruments such
as legislation.
For a deontologist, breaking the
law would contravene their view of
ethics and so the legislation would be
abided by almost regardless of the
value of the legislation. Yet, a teleologist
would consider the consequences of not
abiding by the law and would weigh this
against the benefits of breaking the law.
If tourism students seem to adopt a
teleological approach to ethical
dilemmas, then legislation
can only expect to be effective if
accompanied by stringent penalties that
make the outlawed behaviour not
worthwhile, and hence the need to
understand how decisions are made.
Malloy and Fennell [1998], Cleek and
Leonard [1998] and Stevens [2001] all
point to the increasing prevalence of
codes of ethics employed by the tourism
industry as a tool to provide guidance to
employees when making decisions. An
important contribution in this area has
been made by the World Tourism
Organization, who in 1999 approved the
Global Code of Ethics for Tourism that
consolidated and reinforced previous
recommendations and declarations on
sustainable tourism. 168
The Code aims to preserve the
world's natural resources and cultural
heritage from disruptive tourist activities
and to ensure a fair and equitable
sharing of benefits that arise out of
tourism with the residents of tourism
destinations. Yet the code is not
supported by an understanding of how
industry practitioners make their
decisions. Indeed, the lack of
awareness within the industry of the
code would indicate the code is not a
particularly effective tool.
Influences on ethical
decision making
Previous theory suggests that
there are a number of influences on
ethical decision making of students,
including nationality, the type of ethical
dilemma, prior ethical education, and
gender. Prior research in cross-cultural
or cross-national ethical values of
students has been quite contradictory.
For example, Lysonski and Gaidis
[1991] found that business students'
ethical orientations were similar in the
USA, Denmark and New Zealand.
However, Okleshen and Hoyt [1996]
found that US students were less
tolerant than New Zealand students of
situations involving
the ethical constructs of fraud, coercion
and self-interest. Whipple and Swords
[1992] suggest that the field of business
ethics has not attracted the degree of
academic interest in the UK as it has in
the US, and that more business ethics
courses are needed in Britain to counter
the difference in ethical judgements
found.
Ethical decision making is also
likely to be influenced by the type of
ethical dilemma faced. Jones [1991]
showed ethical issues can be classified
according to their intensity, with
respondents more likely to respond
according to ethical principles if the
issue is deemed as important. Applied
ethics has evolved for functions and
aspects such as business ethics,
marketing ethics, and accounting ethics,
but discussion of sustainable tourism
ethics and the moral appropriateness of
sustainable tourism in various contexts
is somewhat muted by comparison
[Fennell, 1999]. In western societies
over the last few decades, an increased
recognition that the world's resources
are limited, has led to the strengthening
of an environmental ethic, whereby the
natural environment is recognised to
have an intrinsic value which outweighs
its value as a leisure asset [Holden,
2003]. Yet, despite understanding the
concept of the ''triple bottom line'',
attention to the negative economic and
socio-cultural impacts of tourism is less
evident [Jamal, 2004]. Indeed, a recent
review of tourism journals shows a
heavy bias in favour of Ethical
Orientation and Awareness of Tourism
Students 385 papers that focus on the
environmental issues arising from the
industry [Hughes, 2005], reflecting the
acknowledged predisposition NGOs
have previously held towards the
environment [Scheyvens, 2002].
Through exposure to these
debates students are potentially more
likely to be sensitive to environmental
issues. The level of ethical education is
likely to have an influence on ethical
decision making [Whitney, 1989]. The
last decade has seen an increase in the
demands for ethical training amongst
tourism students [Jamal, 2004; Tribe,
2002]. However, there is little evidence
that tourism students are receiving
ethical education [Cohen et al. 2001;
Whitney, 1989], and no research has
looked at the relationship between this
training and ethical decision making.
Singh's [1989] survey of Canadian
management schools shows that nearly
half of all those Universities surveyed
did not offer a formal course in business
ethics to their students. Enghagen
[1990] found a higher proportion of
courses were offered in the US for
hospitality education, although the
majority of ethics courses offered were
electives. Studies which have attempted
to measure the impact of teaching 169
ethics to students have shown
improved, but shortlived improvements
in the ethical values and reasoning skills
of students [Fulmer and Cargile, 1987;
Weber, 1990]. Harris [1991] found that
business majors profess a teleogical
[Egoist and Utilitarian] approach,
whereas non-business majors prefer a
deontological [Golden Rule and Kant's
Imperative] approach. Okleshen and
Hoyt [1996] concluded from their study
that educational experience in an ethics
course produces homogeneity and is
beneficial towards obtaining cross
cultural understanding and congruence
in ethical values.
Finally, studies of ethics and
gender have found females to be less
tolerant than males of situations
involving ethical dilemmas [Beltrami et
al., 1984; Cohen et al., 2001; Ferrell
and Skinner, 1988; Peterson et al.,
1991; Ruegger and King, 1992]. For
example, Whipple and Wolf [1991]
found that female students are more
critical than their male classmates of
questionable business practices. Others
[Freedman and Bartholomew, 1990;
Gilligan, 1982] have found student
females to have higher moral values
than males. Galbraith and Stephenson
[1993] demonstrated that female
business students prefer a utilitarian
decision rule while male business
students prefer an Egoist approach to
evaluating ethical dilemmas.
As one of the world's truly global
industries, working with a diversity of
cultures, moral and ethical values,
future business practitioners face the
challenge of global ethics [Okleshen
and Hoyt, 1996]. In order to contribute
to the development of understanding of
global ethics, this study is responding to
calls for the need to document existing
ethical perspectives of individuals from
around the world and to identify the
determinants of ethical orientations
[Kirande et al., 2002].
Conclusion
The tourism literature makes a
continual call for more decisions to be
made that acknowledge the full impacts
of the industry and yet little research
has been conducted that attempts to
establish the ethical framework the
managers of the future will employ to
approach these decisions. This
research has drawn on the work of
other subject disciplines and applied an
established research methodology to
tourism students in three different
countries. Such research has enabled
more informed discussions about what
is required from ethical instruction in the
future. It should be noted that the
intention of this research was not to
determine what is ethical or unethical.
Rather, it was to assess how the
characteristics of issues influence
ethical beliefs, how individuals think and
devise what is ethical and unethical and
how different variables influence ethical
perceptions [Trevino, 1986]. Once
greater knowledge exists about how
students and businesses are making
decisions, then discussions of which
tools are appropriate to enable or
constrain those decisions become more
apposite.
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1 answer