The Political and Social Aspect of Business of The UN Global Compact Essay

The Political and Social Aspect of Business of The UN Global Compact - Essay Example The UN Global Compact (GC) is voluntary and the underlying objective is stated to be the introduction of social responsibility into international business and the code embodies ten core principles.In essence, the UN GC is a voluntary corporate citizenship network geared towards the mainstreaming business activity ethics worldwide and fuelling the preservation of UN human rights’ objectives within the international business framework (Macintosh et al, 2004 at p.11). Slaughter further observes the UN objectives in the GC in attempting to harmonize consistency in corporate social responsibility measures among UN organizations, international labor organizations, and NGOs to assist the creation of a â€Å"more inclusive and equitable marketplace,† (Slaughter, 2004: p.192).However, the GC does not impose sanctions or implement an enforcement framework and prima facie provides a system for facilitation and is not a regulatory instrument. Indeed, Macintosh et al highlight the f act that â€Å"the Global Compact relies on public accountability, transparency and the enlightened self-interest of companies †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦in pursuing the principles upon which the Global Compact is based† (Macintosh et al, 2004 p.11).In the absence of any regulatory code, Slaughter further refers to the UN’s assertion of information sharing requirements and the chief architect of the GC’s declaration that â€Å"the core of its change model is a learning forum. Companies submit case studies of what they have done to translate their commitment to the GC principles into concrete corporate practices† (Slaughter, 2004 at p.11) As such, there is an assumption that information sharing and self-regulation will facilitate human rights compliance.

All Philosophical Problems Caused by Sloppy Reasoning Essay

All Philosophical Problems Caused by Sloppy Reasoning - Essay Example Clearly, philosophical problems remain, though Wittgenstein had felt that he had solved them finally enough to retire after publishing the Tractatus (Richter, 2004). But by solving the issue of language, one can make sure that one is not making a mountain out of a molehill, asking absurd issues or creating issues where there are none. Anyone who has had the unpleasant experience of talking at cross-purposes with someone else knows that many problems are simply caused by poor assumptions as to what terms mean. Kripke suggests that Wittgenstein's work boils down to a â€Å"sceptical challenge†. The terms of this challenge doubt that anything said can be unequivocally meaningful. The strongest case against the sceptical position would be mathematics. Philosophers since the sceptical revolution of epistemology that Hume led have largely agreed that complete, rigorous knowledge of the empirical world is impossible. But math and logic are sometimes held to be beyond this. Yet Wittge nstein's work, being semantical and semiotic, actually impugns even math. 2 + 2 = 4 is straight forward enough, but to be sensible, one has to assume that it is meant that the symbol 2 matches the concept of â€Å"two†, that the plus sign means an addition, and that the equals sign indicates an equation (Kusch). Strictly speaking, in Kripke's view, one cannot make those assumptions. â€Å"The 'sceptical challenge' is thus ontological rather than epistemic; the sceptic seeks to show not that you are somehow unable to track the facts of what you mean, but that there are no facts for you track†. To decode 2 + 2 = 4 requires more than the rules of mathematics, no matter how rigorous: It requires socially agreed-upon assertability conditions, like â€Å"2 is two, + indicates the mathematical function of addition and = means the equal function†. In strict Chinese or any non-Arabic numeral language, 2 + 2 = 4 is gibberish; in Roman, the closest one would get would be I I + II = IV.