End of Course Reflection (by 10 Dec)

Please comment on at least several if not all of these questions -- use separate posts if you like.   

What have you learned in this course that surprised you?

Would you take another course in philosophy if money/time weren't major barriers?  

Do you have an understanding of the philosophical dimensions of the study and critique of business?

Have you developed an appreciation for the relevance of ethical questions in our daily lives?

Have you improved in your skills of analysis and critique, as well as in written and oral communication due to this course?

5th night Study Group work (initial post by 6 Dec; followup up by 8 & 10 Dec)

1. Post your Case Analysis here by Sat 6 Dec. 
1. Blood for Sale (Case 15.1 p. 679) by Tan Soup
2. Cocaine at the Fortune-500 Level (Case 15.2, p. 681) by ABA
3. Right to Work (Case 15.3, p. 682) by MoM
4. Nike's Suppliers in Vietnam (Case 5.8, p. 243) by Team Success
2. By Mon 8 Dec. read the other Case Analyses and then each student individually will choose one to discuss online. Your original post should be 100+/- words.  Summarize the problem/issue in this topic:  what is the problem? What are the various issues? What is at stake?    
3. Each student individually will followup by Weds 10 Dec with at least two subsequent responses that reflect substantive engagement in the discussion.  300+/- words.  Some avenues to consider in your entries: Do you agree with the study group’s main ethical issue? Their analysis of the situation? Their alternative solution? Their application of our theories?  You may focus your comments on the problem/situation in general or on particular points/aspects of the case. Be sure to include references to/application of/even offenses or violations of the various theories we are considering (ethical/economic/rights /justice/environmental). In all instances, at minimum be professional while striving to be scholarly.

NOTE: In this discussion you should move from any superficial or pragmatic problems/issues to discussion of the more substantive issues: ethical, economic, rights, justice, and/or philosophical issues attached to this problem.
      
Locate the various authors read for this session.  Here your discussion should identify where the authors fit – are they for/against? Does an author offer an alternative or merely criticize another’s viewpoint? Is the author offering a persuasive argument or merely an informational paper on the question at hand?

What, in your opinion, is an informed position or resolution to this problem? i.e., from your assessment of the various positions argued by the professional authors read on this topic, does any one of them have a good solution/resolution, or, from working with topic, do you see what may be a better alternative?

*** this assignment plus your in-class case presentation constitutes your Group Work, 20% of your course grade ***

5th night Reflections on Honest Work (due by 8Dec)

Consider our 3 guiding questions:

• Am I doing the right thing?
• Am I doing it the right way?
• Am I doing it for the right reasons?

What have you learned in this class about Honest Work?   Aristotle says their are many paths of vice, fewer of the Golden Mean -- paths to virtue.  Are you confident about your ability to discern right from wrong action? Explain.

Can virtuous behavior be taught?  In other words, is there any point to having a ethics course to encourage ethical behavior?  Or, does learning about ethics just teach people what to say to better avoid getting caught?

4th Session: Leadership (Initial 1 Dec; Followup 3 Dec)

You can answer 1-2 of these questions with regard to business or just to your life.  Refer explicitly to your readings/videos where applicable.  These questions will be the basis of in-class discussion also.

1) What makes a good leader?  Is being ethical a part of good leadership?
2) How can we create better environments for good ethical decision-making?  I'll give an example.  As a college professor, I would hope that my students, particularly the younger ones, don't put themselves in situations where bad-decision making is more likely to happen -- that usually means drinking.  To tie to the UVA situation, excessive alcohol use is often part of the problem with sexual assault and rape.  If I were queen :) I would try to change campus culture around drinking.
3) Should a good leader be aware of diversity in culture and societal practice?  Should she cultivate diversity in her employees?  Why or why not?  Tie to Kwame Anthony Appiah's TED talk on religion.
4) Is there virtue in simplicity?
5) Discuss the leadership style of people in authority that you have known personally:  which styles helped you develop and perform best?

4th Session Honesty (initial posting by 1 Dec; followup by 3 Dec)

How important is honesty in business?  Isn't it ok to lie (a little? a lot?) to close a deal?  Do the standards of lying vs. truth apply the same way in advertising?  Explain, using at least one of your readings or videos for Session Four.

3rd Session: Singer

Peter Singer is a very famous philosopher who has worked a long time on poverty.  He is also very provocative in other ways (particularly his views related to abortion).  Here's an interview from the Colbert report, though, on poverty:
http://thecolbertreport.cc.com/videos/8nmnda/peter-singer

Q: From your readings, other video, and video listed above, what is Singer's argument about poverty?  Do you agree with it?  Explain.  Assuming that you agree with him at least somewhat, is there something you can do, especially during this holiday season, that helps you address Singer's concerns?

3rd Session: Course reflections to date (before 1 Dec)

Do you feel confident about your ethical theories?  If not, what questions do you still have?


We've talked about:
Week 1: The Good Life
Week 2: Social Responsibility and Technology
Week 3: Fairness and Justice

Q: What are you learning about business ethics that surprises you?  That you can apply to your own work life?

Current events: autos & airbags & sexual assault

Always plenty of bad behavior to analyze...

There are several different stories unfolding about problems with autos & airbags.  Comment on when a company should recall a product, how that decision should be made (is it a simple cost-benefit analysis? If people are getting injured or killed should that be disclosed right away? Etc.), and if & how the government should be involved.

GM & supplier
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/11/22/business/gm-bullied-manufacturer-over-poorly-designed-part-email-says.html?referrer=

Takata airbag hearings
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/11/21/business/takata-airbags-senate-hearing.html?referrer=


Additionally, your classmates are finding other relevant stories:

*new* from Lorain

• Banker says debt drove him to crime …. Lorain especially likes his comment.. "I knew this had ethical and regulatory consequences, but I did not consider the greater consequences. At the time it appeared to be the best of two evils," Ladio said. http://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/local/2014/11/23/banker-says-debt-drove-himto-crime/19458207/

 
*new* bad ethics in tech companies

• http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/11/27/style/uber-facebook-and-others-bedeviled-by-moral-issues.html?referrer=

*new* Sexual assault
Jeremy wanted to post this report from Rolling Stone about sexual assault at UVA. Warning: it is graphic and disturbing.

• http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/features/a-rape-on-campus-20141119
• NYTimes: Does the University of Virginia Have a Culture of Silence Around Sexual Assault?http://op-talk.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/11/21/does-the-university-of-virginia-have-a-culture-of-silence-around-sexual-assault/?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share 
• http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/uva-temporarily-suspends-fraternities-in-response-to-rape-allegations/90097?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

More fallout:

• http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/11/25/us/rocked-by-rape-report-university-of-virginia-to-hold-special-meeting.html?emc=edit_th_20141125&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=25414714&_r=0&referrer=
• The Board of Visitors met yesterday and vows to reform the culture: http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/11/26/us/university-of-virginia-officials-vow-to-combat-campus-rape-problem.html?referrer=
• http://chronicle.com/article/Tradition-in-the-Cross-Hairs/150265/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

Sennett (initial by 1 Dec; followup by 8Dec)

Read the essay.  Comment initially on one question below; follow up on a classmate's posting regarding the other question.

From 17Nov14 Inequality, Unbelievably, Gets Worse - NYTimes.com
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/11/17/opinion/inequality-unbelievably-gets-worse.html?referrer=

Q1: Are you concerned about the growing disparity between the rich and the poor?  Is there something to be done with respect to business to reduce the gap?  *Should* those measures be taken?  Explain.

Q2: How does this relate to Sennett's overall thesis?

3rd Session: Case 5.2 Going Down the Road (initial posting by Sat 22Nov; follow-up by Tues 25)

(initial posting by Sat 22Nov; follow-up by Tues 25)

Initial step
1. Read Case 5.2, pp, 235-6 in your Honest Work.
2. Review some of the following stories about the 2013 Bangladeshi sweatshop disaster:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Savar_building_collapse
• http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-mcmanus-column-bangladesh-garment-fire-20140423-column.html
• http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/apr/29/bangladesh-factory-tragedy-sweatshop-economics
• http://theconversation.com/bangladesh-disaster-shows-why-we-must-urgently-clean-up-global-sweat-shops-13899
• http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/19/world/asia/after-collapse-bleak-struggle.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

3. Collectively, let's look at this situation using your Case Resolution Model (below for convenience).   We'll walk through the stages in pairs -- noted below.  This constitutes your initial response due by Sat 22.  Note that each subsequent pair depends on the previous pair's work, so try to post earlier in the week if your name is in the beginning of the alphabet.

4. In your study groups follow-up (by Tues 25th):
We're aiming find some resolution on the following questions.
1) Are sweatshops immoral?  Is it wrong to exploit people?  Are sweatshops exploitative?
2) Should they be banned?

Case Resolution Model

(adapted from Morality and the Professional Life: Values at Work by Cynthia A. Brincat and Victoria S. Wike)

Stage I. Presentation

1. Present the problem - Baumer & Blahnik
1. Identify the issue
2. Define the moral situation
2. Collect information - Boggs & Bragg
1. List morally relevant facts
2. List non-moral relevant facts (e.g., legal, economic, psychological, etc.)

Stage II.  Analysis

3. List relevant values - Brown & Cooper
1. Identify moral values important to persons in the case (e.g., Integrity, Respect for Persons, Compassion, Justice, Beneficence/Nonmaleficence, Responsibility)
2. Identify non-moral values important to persons in the case (e.g., economic, intellectual, social, spiritual, etc.)
3. Identify possible value conflicts. (Is there a true ethical conflict, or a conflict between ethical and other values?

4.     Explore options - Davidson & Devereaux

a.     How do different theories interpret and apply the relevant values? (e.g. care, consequentialist, duty, narrative, rights, virtue)

2. Which options are favored by more than one theory?

5. Assess rightness/wrongness of various outcomes - Dunn-McGrath & Katenkamp

1. Option 1
2. Option 2
3. Option 3

6. Decide which option solves the moral problem - Lewis & Lippmeier

Stage III. Review

7. Defend the decision - Perry & Stowe
1. Give reasons to explain the decision.
2. Assess the strength of the reasons (relevant, consider all affected persons, consider central moral values).
8. Reflect - Tipton & Dr. Sherron
1.  What objections can be made to the decision?
2. How could this problem have been avoided?

*new* Technology, Rights, Non-humans (initial15th, follow-up by Thurs 20th)

(initial posting of one of the below by Sun 15th; followup to 2 peers by Thurs 20th)

Watch the Ted talk by Paul Wolpe.   
Comment on these questions: 

• Are you surprised by the capabilities?  Are you worried about the research?  Why or why not?  
• Do animals have rights?  If yes, do we violate those rights by manipulating their genomes, say by making them glow?  
• Do your ethical theories extend (apply) to animals?  To the natural world, like an ecosystem?

*new/followup* apparently this is a hot research area now
21Nov14 
* A short video about brain-computer interface:  
http://www.the-scientist.com//?articles.view/articleNo/41367/title/Mind--Powered/
this gives a little more info on those weird controlled roaches & 3rd armed monkey from the Wolpe Ted Talk.
* http://www.the-scientist.com//?articles.view/articleNo/41463/title/Monkeys-Learn-to-Steer-Wheelchair/

Sentinels in the Sewers - NYTimes.com
This article describes a new area of basic research -- trying to map out the genome of our cities by sampling our sewage.  So gross yet so cool!
http://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/well/2014/11/10/what-our-sewage-can-teach-us/?nlid=25414714&src=recpb&referrer=

Q: What is basic science research?  What is its role in the development of technology, treatments, other improvements for our lives?  Should there be limits on basic science?  Should there be limits on what companies--in contrast to the government, military, and/or academia--can research?  GMOs? Chemical/biological research that might be turned into weapons?

Stakeholder Theory (initial posting by Sun 15th, follow-up by Thurs 20th)

(initial posting by Sun 15th, follow-up on another posting by Thurs 20th)

After you've read the selections from Chpt 6 and watched the video about corporate social responsibility, are you convinced that a company ought to take all stakeholders into account when making business decisions?  What ethical theory(s) support stakeholder theory?

Can you think of a company that appears to do business with considerations of all/most stakeholders?  What about an example of a company that doesn't appears to consider stakeholders broadly?  Perhaps it is only focused on profits narrowly construed, or is inconsistent, or just doesn't seem to care about a large part of the stakeholders?

Current Events (initial post by 24 Nov; 2 followups by 8 Dec)

I've posted a variety current events, and will post more if/as they become available.  

• Before 24 November post on at least one issue.  
• Before 8 December comment on 2 of your classmates' posts.

* bonus: Thursday 20 Nov is World Philosophy Day
http://en.unesco.org/events/world-philosophy-day-2014
Do you like philosophy? Would you take more if money/time weren't a barrier?

1) "net neutrality" discussion

• http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/11/13/technology/pressure-mounts-on-fcc-head-over-open-internet-rules.html?referrer=

• A Super-Simple Way to Understand the Net Neutrality Debate - NYTimes.com http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/11/11/upshot/a-super-simple-way-to-understand-the-net-neutrality-debate.html emc=edit_th_20141111&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=25414714&_r=0&referrer=  

Q: what do you think the regulations should be? Can you use one of your theories to justify your position?


2) Creating ethical cultures in business: Brooke Deterline at TEDxPresidio
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzicXbnmllc     
Q: what obligation do you have to contribute to an ethical culture?  How could you do it?  How could you protect yourself against ethical fading?  Would you partake of Social Fitness Training if it were available to you?



3) Richard Branson’s space tourism shows what today’s obscene inequality looks like | Zoe Williams | The Guardian
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/nov/02/richard-branson-space-tourists-obscene-inequality-free-market?CMP=fb_gu
Q: Should there be limits on what is for sale?


4) Retailers take stand against early Black Friday | PBS NewsHour
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/retailers-take-stand-early-black-friday/
Q: Should companies be open on Thanksgiving?