About this ebook
-Kirkus Discoveries
Being good is not good enough to be moral. In Do No Evil, Michael Berumen debunks the notions that moral judgments are subjective preferences and that there are no universal standards of morality. He analyzes leading normative theories and gives biographical highlights on several important philosophers. Berumen then sets forth his own theory: the only basis for universal morality is the avoidance of death and suffering, in contrast to conventional conceptions of promoting good, which he shows cannot form a basis for universal rules of conduct.
Berumen then examines the concepts of property, exchange, competition, and inequality, and shows why capitalism occupies the default position of morality, and why socialism is problematic. With that said, he also explains why property rights are not unlimited, and how morality serves to constrain capitalist acts.
The last part of the book deals with business-related topics. Berumen demonstrates that a business is property and not primarily an instrument for delivering social justice, and he covers such areas as governance, fiduciary responsibility, marketing, globalism, the environment, duties to animals, and moral courage.
About the author
After a bout of youthful delinquency in the 1960s, Mr. Berumen joined the Army, where he served as a cryptographer, and he went on to earn a degree in philosophy and mathematics, and graduated summa cum laude from East Bay University. Later he attended Stanford's Graduate School of Business. He joined an insurance company in the seventies, and retired as a senior executive 26 years later, after which he became CEO of a California security business. In 1993, he testified before Congress as an expert in health insurance. Berumen's principal interests are in philosophy, physics, and the foundations of mathematics. Berumen has authored articles on various topics, in addition to his book, Do No Evil: Ethics with Applications to Economic Theory and Business. He has also served on various non-profit and for-profit boards. Berumen is the editor of the Bertrand Russell Society's periodical, The Bulletin and serves on the Society's board of directors. He and his wife, Carol are semi-retired and living in Colorado.
