“Commerce, which ought naturally to be, among nations, as among individuals, a bond of union and friendship, has become the most fertile source of discord and animosity. The capricious ambition of kings and ministers has not, during the present and preceding century, been more fatal to the repose of Europe, than the impertinent jealousy of merchants and manufacturers. The violence and injustice of the rulers of mankind is an ancient evil, for which, I am afraid, the nature of human affairs can scarce admit of a remedy. But the mean rapacity, the monopolizing spirit of merchants and manufacturers, who neither are, nor ought to be the rulers of mankind, though it cannot perhaps be corrected, may very easily be prevented from disturbing the tranquility of anybody but themselves”
Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations
Course description
This course will examine ethical interactions between individuals, businesses, and governments. We’ll begin by exploring foundational issues in capitalism, particularly how Adam Smith saw it relating to human interaction and society generally. We’ll then turn to issues of equity and well being, focusing on communist critiques of capitalism. Having examined these historical foundations of the ethics of business, we’ll turn to the more recent development of the corporation, including its moral status, social responsibilities, and the means of corporate punishment. We’ll conclude by surveying a range of topics in the literature on business ethics concerning employment, discrimination, honesty, globalization and the environment.
Course objectives
- To consider foundational ethical questions about the role of business in human life.
- To introduce students to the historical literatures on capitalism and communism.
- To apply theoretical perspectives on business ethics to recent cases in news and law.
- To build skills in critical and analytical writing.
Required texts
- Thomas L White, Business Ethics: A Philosophical Reader (Prentice Hall, 1993) ISBN 0024272213
- Additional readings—to be distributed
Course overview and requirements
By the end of this course, you’ll be able to talk and think about ethical issues of business in a theoretical and sophisticated way. Ideally, you’ll be able to pick up the business section of a newspaper or magazine and make connections to the texts we’ve studied, see a range of ethical issues at stake, and form critical and intelligent positions on those issues. More importantly, you’ll be able to look your place of employment or future career in a different, philosophically informed light. This ability can help make you a more careful practitioner in business and a better (world) citizen.
To help you achieve these abilities, this course will do two main things. First, it will introduce you to a variety of considerations and perspectives on interactions between individuals, businesses, and governments. Many of the texts we’ll be reading are major and historically important papers in these debates. You’ll need to read them slowly and carefully and, in some cases, more than once—say, before and after each class. You’ll also need to attend class regularly. Some of class will be lecture, in which I’ll train you to interpret and respond to the reading assignments. Some of class will be discussion, in which you’ll want to raise questions about the texts, express reactions to them, and try out your own arguments about them.
In addition to readings, a second part of the course will involve assignments of various kinds:
Case responses (10 responses) will help you to apply concepts from our readings to real-world cases, and serve as discussion material for class. You must read 10 of the textbook cases over the course of the semester and respond to the discussion questions at the end (2–3 pages should be enough). Which cases you respond to is your choice; I have listed 15 possible cases throughout the semester. If you choose to do a response for a particular day, that response is due at the beginning of the class period; no late responses will be accepted. If you plan ahead, you will never have to write two responses in a single week.
Final portfolio (1,000 word cover letter and 10 revised responses) will draw together your revised responses, together with a statement summarizing what you learned in the course. Your final grade will be based on the strength of your portfolio as a whole—how well your responses address the case questions, how well your revisions demonstrate more sophisticated reasoning in light of my comments, and how well you describe the growth and development of your understanding in the course through your cover letter. Further directions on the portfolio will be distributed in April.
Academic integrity
Plagiarism and cheating are intellectual crimes and will not be tolerated, regardless of whether they’re deliberate or accidental. Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab defines plagiarism as (a) documenting sources incorrectly, (b) failing to document or (c) relying way too heavily on external resources. Your work must be original or documented, even if you’re using as few as three words from someone else. If I determine that any of your work is not your own, you will fail the course.
Course schedule
This is a tentative outline of our readings and topics for the course. All readings listed below are available in the course textbook or will be distributed in class (*); these distributed readings will be available for download on Blackboard. I may, on occasion, add, delete, or substitute readings. Any changes will be announced in class and posted to Blackboard.
Moral Sentiments and Material Interests
- Introduction: A Brief History of British Moralism
- Tues 1/27 (no assignments)
- The Sentimental Foundation of Morals
- Thurs 1/29 Smith, Theory of Moral Sentiments, Part I (*65–88)
- Tues 2/3 Smith, Theory of Moral Sentiments, Parts II–IV (*88–123)
- Custom and Society
- Thurs 2/5 Smith, Theory of Moral Sentiments, Parts V–VI (*123–147)
- Labor, Markets, and Wealth
- Tues 2/10 Smith, Wealth of Nations, Book I.1–I.5 (*159–180)
- Thurs 2/12 NO CLASS—Lincoln’s Birthday
- Tues 2/17 Smith, Wealth of Nations, Books I.6–II.3 (*180–243)
- Social Investments
- Thurs 2/19 Smith, Wealth of Nations, Book V (*290–320)
- Capitalism and Benevolence
- Tues 2/24 Lux, “The Mistake” (*) and Novak, “Virtuous Self-Interest” (56–59)
- Thurs 2/26 McCarty, “Business and Benevolence” (41–53)
- Possible Response: Case 5.1
Work, Well Being, and Wealth
- Labor, Capital, and Exploitation
- Tues 3/3 Marx, from Capital, Volume I (*)
- Thurs 3/5 Marx, “Estranged Labor” (144–149) and Nielsen, “Alienation and Work” (151–55)
- Possible Response: Case 4.1
- Moral Critiques of Capitalism
- Tues 3/10 Reiman, “Exploitation, Force and the Moral Assessment of Capitalism” (60–72)
- Thurs 3/12 Gini and Sullivan, “Work: The Process and the Person” (132–140) and Fisk, “Economic Justice” (115–125)
- Possible Response: Case 3.1
Corporations and Responsibility
- Corporate Responsibility
- Tues 3/17 Miller and Ahrens, “The Social Responsibility of Corporations” (187–204)
- Thurs 3/19 Goodpaster, “Business Ethics and Stakeholder Analysis” (205–220)
- Possible Response: Case 5.2
- Individual and Collective Accountability
- Tues 3/24 Meyers, “The Corporation, Its Members, and Moral Accountability” (251–260)
- Possible Response: Case 7.2
- Thurs 3/26 Bishop, “The Moral Responsibility of Corporate Executives for Disasters” (261–269)
- Possible Response: Case 6.2
- Tues 3/24 Meyers, “The Corporation, Its Members, and Moral Accountability” (251–260)
- Two Models of Corporate Punishment
- Tues 3/31 French, “The Hester Prynne Sanction” (276–286) and Shipp “Modified Vendettas as a Method of Punishing Corporations” (294–306)
- Possible Response: Case 7.1
- Tues 3/31 French, “The Hester Prynne Sanction” (276–286) and Shipp “Modified Vendettas as a Method of Punishing Corporations” (294–306)
Topics in Business Ethics
In this unit, we’ll consider several common topics in business ethics, including the day-to-day problems of honesty, employee conduct, and discrimination, as well as larger issues, such as globalization and the environment. The literature on these topics is extensive; our readings will serve as jumping-off points for discussion, along with your case responses. We will agree on a list of topics in April, and I will distribute a list of readings and cases before break.
- Employee Rights & Privacy
- Thurs 4/2 Ewing, “A Proposed Bill of Rights” (426–430) and Dahl, “Democracy in the Workplace: Is It a Right or a Privilege?” (446–455)
- Tues 4/7 Des Jardins, “Privacy in Employment” and Lippke, “Work, Privacy ad Autonomy” (479–496)
- Possible Response: Case 11.2
- Thurs 4/9 NO CLASS—Spring Break
- Tues 4/14 NO CLASS—Spring Break
- Thurs 4/16 NO CLASS—Spring Break
- Discrimination, Sexual Harassment, and Comparable Worth
- Tues 4/21 Nagel, “A Defense of Affirmative Action,” (636–640) Groarke, “Affirmative Action as a Form of Restitution” (640–647) and Hook, “Rationalizations for Reverse Discrimination” (663–667)
- Possible Response: Case 14.1
- Thurs 4/23 Dodds, et al. “Sexual Harassment” and May and Hughes “Is Sexual Harassment Coercive?”
- Possible Response: Case 15.2
- Tues 4/28 O’Neill, “An Argument Against Comparable Worth” and Shrage, “Some Implications of Comparable Worth” (693–719)
- Possible Response: Case 15.1
- Tues 4/21 Nagel, “A Defense of Affirmative Action,” (636–640) Groarke, “Affirmative Action as a Form of Restitution” (640–647) and Hook, “Rationalizations for Reverse Discrimination” (663–667)
- Advertising
- Thurs 4/30 Arrington, “Advertising and Behavior Control” (576–585) and Waide, “The Making of Self and World in Advertising” (600–607)
- Possible Response: Case 13.2
- Thurs 4/30 Arrington, “Advertising and Behavior Control” (576–585) and Waide, “The Making of Self and World in Advertising” (600–607)
- Business and Honesty
- Tues 5/5 Duska, “Whistleblowing and Employee Loyalty” and Dandekar, “Can Whistleblowing Be Fully Legitimated? A Theoretical Discussion” (551–367)
- Possible Response: Case 12.1
- Thurs 5/7 Jackson, “Honesty in Marketing” (358–367)
- Tues 5/5 Duska, “Whistleblowing and Employee Loyalty” and Dandekar, “Can Whistleblowing Be Fully Legitimated? A Theoretical Discussion” (551–367)
- Business in a Global World
- Tues 5/12 De George, “Ethical Dilemmas for Multinational Enterprise: A Philosophical Overview” (784–789) and Donaldson, “The Ethics of Risk in the Global Economy” (810–824)
- Possible Response: Case 17.2
- Thurs 5/14 Hanson, “The Ethics of Development and the Dilemmas of Global Environmentalism” (841–849) and Katz, “Defending the Use of Animals by Business: Animal Liberation and Environmental Ethics” (855–862)
- Possible Response: Case 18.1
- Tues 5/12 De George, “Ethical Dilemmas for Multinational Enterprise: A Philosophical Overview” (784–789) and Donaldson, “The Ethics of Risk in the Global Economy” (810–824)
- Tues 5/19 DUE Final portfolio (by 5pm via email to csula@gc.cuny.edu)
