Avoidance of well-established ethical business-codes currently continues as a prime societal problem. Codes have a tendency to be ignored for reasons inherent to competitive firms. These inherent reasons are examined in the context of Arendt’s (1971, 2003) and Bonhoeffer’s (1997) theories of why ethical codes are abandoned. Svendsen’s Philosophy of Evil (2001) is shown to provide insights relevant for preserving these codes. In addition, the evidence from recent experimental psychology is shown to reinforce these devolution theories