As in the case of so many other ethical issues, the categorical imperative of Immanuel Kant (1724–1804), the renowned German philosopher of the Enlightenment, provides a useful starting point for constructing a business ethic that can serve as a framework for discussions of the ethics of globalization. In the Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals, published in 1785, Kant admonishes, “For, all rational beings stand under the law that each of them is to treat himself and all others never merely as means but always at the same time as ends in themselves.”

This formulation of the categorical imperative has been misconstrued sometimes as suggesting that we should never use other people as means to help accomplish whatever we might be attempting to accomplish. That, however, is not what it says. Rather, Kant states that each person should “treat himself and all others never merely as means but always at the same time as ends in themselves.” For example, if we hire someone to rake the leaves from our lawn, we are using that person as the means of getting that particular job done. Kant would have no problem with this but would insist that we should not view the person we hire simply as a means of getting the job done.