The Just World Fallacy as a Challenge to the Business-As-Community Thesis

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The notion that business organizations are akin to Aristotelian political communities has been a central feature of research into virtue ethics in business. In this article, I begin by outlining this “community thesis” and go on to argue that psychological research into the “just world fallacy” presents it with a significant challenge. The just world fallacy undermines our ability to implement an Aristotelian conception of justice, to each as he or she is due, and imperils the relational equality required for shared participation in communities. In the final section, I offer a description of what Aristotelian community might look like within organizations, and some suggestions about how it may be possible to resist the challenge posed by the just world fallacy.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1269-1292
Number of pages24
JournalBusiness & Society
Volume59
Issue number6
Early online date26 Feb 2018
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jul 2020

Bibliographical note

© The Author(s) 2018. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. Further copying may not be permitted; contact the publisher for details

Keywords

  • Aristotelianism, business ethics, communities, just world fallacy, virtue ethics

Cite this