La philosophie au secours des rapports de responsabilité sociale de l’entreprise, ou comment dépasser les limites d’un discours « aphilosophique » sur la responsabilité : Troisième Partie – Responsabilité et délibération morale

Abstract

Habermas’ ethics of discussion can be used for developing moral deliberation processes in the organizational setting. However, it can be a great challenge to put its main principles into practice, at least between internal and external stakeholders of a given organization. The Habermassian ethics of discussion avoids the trap of a priori universalization of moral norms. Nonetheless, it must also avoid implicit power games that could undermine any consensus among organizational members. We need to identify such interpretative traps that can reduce our capacity to launch an Habermassian process of moral deliberation within the organization. On the other hand, the Habermassian ethics of discussion can allow organizational members to redefine ethically focused corporate documents, especially corporate social responsibility/sustainability reports. Taking all stakeholders’ interests into account is not wishful thinking. Rather, it should imply an active and open discussion with internal and external stakeholders. The Habermassian ethics of discussion can allow organizational members to deepen the meaning
and implications of their speech-acts about moral norms.