THE MORALLY DECENT HR MANAGER 273of all decisions in modern societies complicates the task of the person who
wishes to be decent. Decent people do not automatically know the right thing
to do. They need support to help them to be decent. They turn to others for
advice and in discussing what is right and wrong they find moral universals
that can span modern and diverse communities.
It is from being part of such discussions herself that enables Heller to
propose the universal norms and principles described in her books. These
norms and principles are guidelines that she, as a moral philosopher, and as
a person who also faces contingency, has identified and articulated through
discussion with people who strive to be decent. They are not commandments
but guidelines that people who have chosen themselves to be decent are party
to developing and which they and all decent people can consult.
Thus, Heller’s moral theory recognizes and transcends modern communi-
ties and does so without pretending to stand outside human construction. In
making this point, however, Heller argues that it is important not to depict
universal moral norms and values as governing the totality and minutiae
of every moral decision that a person makes. Here Heller, in accord with
postmodernists, claims that ultimately it is the individual alone who decides
and is responsible. Every decision is a leap, not based solely on knowledge or
rational choice; no moral principle can take us all the way. But as Heller states
it is nevertheless imperative for most of us to have ‘crutches’ and this is where
moral norms and values can be of use. They will not eliminate contingency
or risk but they can help us to be the decent persons that we want to be. And
importantly they allow us to evaluate a set of guidelines that HR managers in
modern societies might be able to use.
Heller, provides quite robust guidelines, and meets a concern I have for
providing HR managers with guidelines that are not so thin as to be of lit-
tle practical use. Heller’s books (particularly 1990 and 1987a), describe and
articulate a large number of universals. The guidelines include an orientative
principle of care, a constitutive moral principle (the means–ends formula),
a maxim of justice, norms of giving and receiving, moral maxims, ultimate
values, and a selection of virtues and vices, and values. In Table 16.1, I set
out examples of some of the norms and maxims she suggests, which I have
adapted to the HR manager’s context.
Importantly, her catalogue is not a closed set to which nothing can be
added or taken away. As Heller states of her orientative principle of care:
‘I do not pretend to offer a catalogue of all principles’ (1990: 44). Rather
she suggests that ‘(e)very decent person can correct me as well as add his
or her own principle to the list’ (1990: 44). She also invites other people to
add to her list of maxims. It is in accord with these invitations that I have
evaluated Heller’s moral philosophy and with this spirit that I have adopted
her norms and principles. The example set out in Table 16.1 and my fuller
catalogue reproduced elsewhere is a summary of what Heller has written, cast