I want to expand a little on my previous post. There is a general feeling among some people that the sole aim of a business is to make money. If goods (let alone the best good) are measured by telos--i.e. the intent with which a project is undertaken--then it is good for a business to make money. Now, I want to be clear that making money is not bad in and of itself, and that businesses should make a profit, all else being equal.
However, there is a disconnect here. The whole reason we have an economy, money and trade, jobs, and so on, is to enable a certain ideal way of life for every member, or almost every member, of society who upholds their end of the social contract. When Adam Smith extolled market economics, he was doing so because he thought free markets (for merchandise, not for wages, importantly) are the best way to ensure the goals of having an economy, not because free markets are a good unto themselves. People who contribute to society deserve to reap the benefits of living in a society, and furthermore, there is an expectation of some level of egalitarianism. There is also an expectation that no sub-unit of society, whether it be an individual, a family, a club, or a company, will do undue harm. There is a time for self-sacrifice to acheive those aims. When we see only profit at any cost, those aims are ignored, and that's when things start to go wrong. It is good for the world for a ceramic doll company, an insurance company, or any kind of company to make a reasonable profit when that profit does not result in undue harm to the overall goals of having an economy in the first place. When it does result in such harm, then it is not good for a company to make such profit.
