Seven Pillars Institute

A New Issue of Moral Cents is Out!

We are close to the five-year anniversary of the global financial crisis, if we take ...

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Bank of America’s Takeover of Merrill Lynch

Bank of America agreed to pay $2.43 billion to settle a class-action lawsuit with investors who ...

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Lockean Proviso

This proviso is an ‘enough and as good’ clause on original acquisition, stating that we can only appropriate unowned property if we leave enough and as good for others. Share and Enjoy

Veil of Ignorance

A hypothetical mental state, in John Rawls version of Social Contract Theory, in which we imagine ourselves as being situated behind a “veil of ignorance” in which we are ignorant of our particular characteristics such as sex, race, IQ, financial status, family background, religious ideology, personal philosophy, etc. The “veil of ignorance” forces us to imagine ourselves in a position, free of bias, and one in which we are unaware of any particular skills or abilities we may have. According to Rawls, valid principles of justice are those we would ...

Exploitation

Utilization of others with the motive of self-interest. One person taking an unfair advantage of another, for selfish reasons. Share and Enjoy

Caveat Emptor

Latin term meaning “Let the Buyer beware”. This term adheres to the basic premise that when it comes to a transaction, the buyer is the one held entirely responsible for the transaction, as well as the product(s) that come with it. In other words, it is the buyer’s responsibility to choose well when making a transaction, and this can be done in the form of testing a product, making sure that the product being purchased has no defects, etc. Currently, the United States rejects such a philosophy as ‘Caveat emptor’, ...

Double (Moral) Standard

An ethical or moral code which allows for greater freedom to one person or group than to another. In other words, a double standard is a set of principles which apply more strictly to one group than to another. Share and Enjoy

Moral Standard

A moral standard refers to the norms which we have about the types of actions which we believe to be morally acceptable and morally unacceptable. Specifically, moral standards deal with matters which can either seriously harm or seriously benefit human beings. The validity of moral standards comes from the line of reasoning that was taken to back or support them, and thus are not able to be formed or changed by particular bodies of authority. Share and Enjoy ...

Political Pluralism

Political pluralism begins with the basic claim that there exists a variety of differing value systems in the world today and thus a variety of positions regarding this claim. The overall concern of political pluralism is what sort of limits are governments able to put on people’s freedoms in order to act within their specific value system. Share and Enjoy

Moral Absolutism

Moral absolutism is an ethical view claiming essentially that all forms of human conduct can be classified as either being right or wrong in any context. Regardless of intention or purpose, committing bad actions are always going to be bad, and they cannot be justified. In other words, certain actions are always right and certain actions are always wrong, no matter how one tries to rationalize it. Share and Enjoy ...

Cross-Currency Swap

A transaction where two parties exchange cash flows in different currencies. Usually the cash flows are fixed to a notional amount, which can also be exchanged. The parties will fix an exchange rate or peg each payment to the current exchange rate. At the end of the swap period, the two parties often exchange the cash amounts back. Organizations whose cash flow and expenditures do not occur in the same currency especially benefit from such trades, which hedge against turbulence in exchange rates.   Share and Enjoy ...

Swap

A transaction where two parties exchange cash flows with different stipulations attached to them. Two of the most common types are cross-currency swaps and interest rate swaps.   Share and Enjoy