Title: The inescapably ethical foundation of sustainability

Authors: M.L. McIntyre; T. Caputo; S.A. Murphy

Addresses: Sprott School of Business, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, K1S 5B6, Canada ' Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, K1S 5B6, Canada ' Ted Rogers School of Business, Ryerson University, 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5B 2K3, Canada

Abstract: In this paper, we show how various authors have discussed the idea of sustainability and linked it to ethics and ethical behaviour. We further show that ideas of sustainability are closely linked to the notion of sameness through time. We discuss sameness in an object-predicate framework and show that in this context, it requires selecting clear criteria, with behaviours adopted to meet those criteria. An important insight from the object-predicate framework is that selection of the criteria for sameness is shown to rest entirely on the value judgements of those making the selection. We provide a detailed example that demonstrates this, and argue that given the prominence of value judgements in assessments of sameness (and in this sense, of sustainability), ethics are unavoidably at its foundation. Examining ideas of sustainability in this way may provide insights into how we might become better able to meet the conception of sustainable development articulated in the Brundtland Report.

Keywords: sustainability; intergenerational responsibility; ethics.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBGE.2017.086471

International Journal of Business Governance and Ethics, 2017 Vol.12 No.2, pp.127 - 150

Received: 09 Jun 2016
Accepted: 13 Mar 2017
Published online: 10 Sep 2017 *

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