CAN YOU BE A GOOD BILLIONAIRE?

"Billionaires are often lauded in America, but some condemn them as evil simply for being billionaires. This raises the moral issue of whether a person can be morally good and a billionaire. The issue is whether, in general, you could be a billionaire and still plausibly be a good person. Proper resolution of this issue requires determining which moral theory (if any) is correct. But we can rely to some degree on our moral intuitions and some basic logic."

"While we could debate endlessly about ethical and unethical ways of becoming wealthy, we can probably agree that there are some ways of acquiring wealth that are inconsistent with being a good person. As an appeal to intuition, I ask you to imagine something you regard as being the evilest thing a person could do. Now imagine someone who finds a way to monetize that and manages to become a billionaire. You would probably agree that they would not be a good person."

Moral judgment about billionaires depends on acquisition methods and subsequent use of wealth. Determining whether a billionaire can be morally good ultimately leans on which moral theory is accepted, but moral intuitions and logic can guide judgments. Virtue ethics holds that acquiring wealth is not inherently evil; the primary concern is how wealth is obtained and its impact on character. Confucian guidance prioritizes adherence to moral principles over retaining wealth or rank. Some paths to extreme wealth are clearly incompatible with being a good person, while other routes could plausibly produce great wealth without exploitation or harm.

Read at A Philosopher's Blog