Have bankrupts committed a moral wrongdoing?
The fundamental ethical problem in bankruptcy is that insolvents
have promised to pay their debts but cannot keep their promise. The
Ethics of Bankruptcy examines the morality of bankruptcy.
The Ethics of Bankruptcy is the first comprehensive study
that employs the tools of ethics to examine the controversies surrounding
insolvency, which makes valuable and sometimes controversial reading
in a decade recovering from the recession.
The author compares and contrasts the Humean doctrine of promises
as useful conventions with the Kantian view of autonomous agency constituting
justice. The moral aspects of insolvents' contractual, fiduciary,
tortious and criminal liability are explored. Finally, the author
assesses recent bankruptcy law reforms.
Dr. Jukka Kilpi has extensive experience in public administration
and banking and is an Associate of the Securities Institute of Australia.
He holds undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in Philosophy from
the University of Helsinki, Finland and a doctorate from Monash University,
Melbourne, Australia. Dr. Kilpi is Docent of Business Ethics at the
University of Turku, Finland.
Professional Ethics Series
Professionalism is a subject of interest to academics, the general
public and would-be professional groups. Traditional ideas of professions
and professional conduct have been challenged by recent social, political
and technological changes. One result has been the development for
almost every profession of an ethical code of conduct, which attempts
to formalise its values and standards. These codes of conduct raise
a number of questions about the status of a 'profession' and the consequent
moral implications for behaviour.
This series seeks to examine these questions both critically and constructively.
Individual volumes will consider issues relevant to particular professions,
including nursing, genetic counselling, journalism, business, the
food industry and law. Other volumes will address issues relevant
to all professional groups such as the function and value of a code
of ethics and the demands of confidentiality.
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