Abstract
This chapter explores the literature associated with business ethics and acquisition, applying a philosophical perspective to the literature on business ethics and on procurement ethics in particular. After discussing the standard ethical theories of consequentialism, deontology and virtue ethics, these normative approaches are then contrasted with descriptive, empirical studies. Both are applied to the context of Defence acquisition. It is argued that the employment of normative approaches as a default in Defence is flawed and is unlikely to provide any foundation for a theory of business ethics in acquisition. Instead, more attention needs to be paid to how ethics actually function in organisations, particularly in supporting relations and narratives of power. As a conceptual paper, based on only literature review and philosophical argument, the conclusions need to be subjected to further scrutiny and, if possible, empirical investigation.