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Business EthicsPHI 2220c (70411)Days & Times: T/F, 1:50-3:15Instructor: Dr. Carlo AlvaroEmail: alvaroc@stjohns.eduCOURSE DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVESBusiness ethics studies moral dilemmas and problems that arise in business. For example, should advertising always be transparent? What is a company and what sort of moral obligations does it have to its stakeholders and the public? Is profit and nothing but profit the only objective of a business? Do ethics and interests conflict? And how should businesses go about applying ethical principles and standards to their practice. Since business ethics is a distinct category of ethics, this course has a principal focus on four different areas: (1) Value theory: the study of what is valuable in and of itself (e.g. is happiness or pleasure or virtue or getting what you want the ultimate good?). (2) Normative ethics: the way to approach moral issues by understanding and defining right and wrong conduct. (3) Metaethics: the area of ethics concerned about the study of ethics itself; for example, is morality man-made or human-independent? And (4) applied ethics: the area concerned with the practical application of norms to specific areas of private and public life, such as business. This course will examine all four areas with an emphasis on various moral issues in the business world. Students are expected to have a solid understanding of these four major areas. Also, they are expected to be able to formulate their own moral judgments, by using sound moral reasoning, regarding real-life moral issues. REQUIRED TEXTBOOK, MATERIALSThere is no required textbook for this course. All readings are hyperlinked within the syllabus. The material is also posted on my website INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES/ASSESSMENT METHODS 1. Attain a basic understanding of several influential theories of ethics: their features, presuppositions, and implications.2. Be able to recognize when contemporary moral claims rely on important concepts in these theories, such as duty, consequences, or virtue.3. Attain a general ability to apply ethical theories to moral issues in the business world.4. Have detailed knowledge of the moral components of the applied ethics issues discussed in this course.5. Values, ethics, and relationships: Understand and apply values, ethics, and diverse perspectives in personal, civic, and cultural/global domains. Assessment Methods: Class discussion, paper, examsMETHOD OF GRADINGYour final grade will be determined on the basis of the following requirements:First Examination (Week 5): 25%Second Examination (Week 8): 25%Ten (10) In-class exercises: 25%Final Examination: 25% In-class exercises consist in 2-3 questions that require short answers followed by discussions.Examinations consist in 5-10 questions that require short answers (e.g., briefly explain the notion of cultural relativism. What are the salient differences between deontology and utilitarianism?)PROPER CLASSROOM ETIQUETTEArrive to class on timeEntering the classroom after class has started distracts your classmates and me. AbsencesStudents who are absent are responsible for their missing lectures.Missed examsAs a rule, there are no makeup exams, except for students who are seriously ill (hospitalization or something broken) and are unable to be in class to take the exam. In that event, the student will have to provide a doctor’s note that must specify that he/she was unable to take the exam on the specific test date. Turn off and put away your cell phoneCell phones are not allowed—just pay attention!Do not bring food or drinks to classFruit and water are allowed.Contribute to the class discussion when appropriate Come to class prepared and ask pertinent questions Avoid side conversationsNo talking to your classmates during my lectures Address the professor properly and do not laugh at the professorMy name is Dr. Alvaro or Professor Alvaro. I’m not, “Yo”, “Dude”, “Man”, “Bro” etc. Stay for the entire class Leaving the classroom during the class period is the same as being late Show patience toward the end of classDo not start putting books away and zipping up bags 5 minutes before the official end of class Plagiarism and Academic IntegrityIn an instructional setting, plagiarism occurs when a writer deliberately uses someone else’s language, ideas, or other original (not common-knowledge) material without acknowledging its source. Also, going to the bathroom with your cellphone during exams to consult your notes is considered plagiarism.Contact the professor when you have to miss classIf you cannot come to class, notify me If you don’t understand the material, you must let me know ASAP If you don’t do so, I won’t be able to do anything about it COMMON THINGS NOT TO ASK YOUR PROFESSOR- “I missed class. Did we do anything important?”- “How long does the paper have to be?”- In the middle of a fascinating discussion on a new concept or when your professor asks whether you have any questions about the lecture: “Will this be on the test?” or “When is the next exam?”- In the middle or at the end of the semester: “Wait, what is your email again?”- At the end of the semester after missing numerous assignments: “Is there extra credit in this class?”SCHEDULE OF CLASSESWeek 1Introduction/PresentationThe definition of ethicsWeek 2Stanford Encyclopedia: Business Ethics Para. 5-8Mark Dimmock & Andrew Fisher Business EthicsIn-class exercise: What is Business Ethics?Ethics: Internet Encyclopedia of PhilosophyEthics PowerPoint – 123philosopy – ETHICS, Slides 1-24Week 3Logic, Arguments, and FallaciesIn-class exercise: FallaciesWeek 4A. J. Ayer – EmotivismJ. L. Mackie – The Subjectivity of ValuesEdward Westermarck, Ethical RelativityIn-class Exercise: Skepticism, Relativism, Error, Emotivism, what are they?Week 5Park Seungbae Defense of Cultural RelativismCarlo Alvaro – The Objectivity of MoralityFirst Examination Week 6J. S. Mill – HedonismChris Heathwood – Fairing Well and Getting What You WantBrad Hooker – The Elements of Well-BeingRobert Nozick – The Experience MachineIn-class exercise: The experiment machine, What makes life good?Week 7Plato – The Republic, Books I, II, pp. 15–45In-class exercise: Plato, Justice, Morality, VirtueWeek 8Second Examination J. S. Mill – UtilitarianismUtilitarianism: Crash Course PhilosophyJeremy Bentham – The Principle of Utility Bernard Williams – A Critique of UtilitarianismIn-class exercise: George, Jim, The Indians, and MoreWeek 9 Immanuel Kant – The Good Will and the Categorical ImperativeDeontology: Crash Course PhilosophyIn-class exercise: Anything wrong with deontology?Week 10Aristotle – Nicomachean Ethics Aristotle & Virtue Theory: Crash Course PhilosophyHilde Lindemann What is Feminist EthicsCarol Gilligan – In A Different VoiceIn-class exercise: The Trolley, the cave, and the terrorist’s daughterWeek 11Albert Z. Carr Is Business Bluffing Ethical?Friedman The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its ProfitTitus Suciu Is Capitalism Ethical?Robert Jensen Anti-Capitalism in Five MinutesBob Black Anarchy-101In-class exercise: Capitalism v AnarchyWeek 12Yossi Sheffi – Profits v planet: can big business and the environment get along?Felicity Carus – UN urges global move to meat and dairy-free diet. Watch the video 60 Second Climate FixIs the Livestock Sector an Ethical Business?In-class exercise: Business v the EnvironmentWeek 13Thomas Nagel A Defense of Affirmative ActionLouis Pojman, The Case Against Affirmative ActionJeff McMahan, Why Gun ‘Control’ Is Not EnoughMichael Huemer Is There a Right to Own a Gun?Review ................
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