Business & Economic Ethics
Philosophy 325
Dr. Stephen Hicks
Scarborough 119 / Phone: 226 4078
SHicks@Rockford.edu / www.StephenHicks.org
Of all the endeavors that have contributed to the quality of human life, business ranks with science, art, and education. Yet like all human endeavors, business raises its share of difficult ethical questions and problems. Our task this semester will be to explore those questions and problems.
We will divide our time equally between theory and practice. We will discuss crucial theoretical issues such as: the debates over egoism and altruism, and over capitalism and socialism; competing accounts of rights, justice, profits, and competition; and the nature of employer-employee and business-consumer relations. And we will discuss the practical applications of the theoretical issues through numerous real-life case studies.
§ David R. Henderson, editor. The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics. Available online for free at http://www.econlib.org/library/CEETitles.html. The encyclopedia was originally published as The Fortune Encyclopedia of Economics (Warner, 1993). If you would like a paper copy, several are available from Amazon (http://tinyurl.com/bank3) and other sources.
§ Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged. (Signet)
§ Stephen Hicks, Cases and Readings in Business Ethics booklet.
§ Five-point lists for Schedule readings in bold ………………...……. 25
§ Midterm (Wednesday, February 28) ................................................... 20
§ Essay (Monday, April 30) …………………………………………... 25
§ Exam ……...………………………………………………………… 30
On the Essay
§ Resolved: “The love of money is the root of all evil.”
§ 2000 words.
§ Due: Monday, April 30.
§ Center for Ethics and Entrepreneurship prizes for the best essays in Philosophy 325: $500 for First Place. $100 each for four Honorable Mentions.
Schedule and Readings
[CEE] = Concise Encyclopedia of Economics [SH] = Cases and Readings in Business Ethics
Week |
Lecture Topics |
Readings |
|
1 |
Introduction
|
|
|
2 |
Ethical Principles: Egoism, Altruism, or Selfishness? Video: ABC News Special, “The Blame Game” |
Garrett Hardin, “The Tragedy of the Commons” [CEE] |
|
3 |
The Ethics of Free Markets & Libertarianism |
Murray Rothbard, “Free Markets” [CEE] |
|
4 |
The Ethics of Government Planning & Socialism |
Robert Heilbroner, “Socialism” [CEE] |
|
5 |
Case Study: Laetrile Case Study: Kelo v. New London |
“Manufacture & Regulation of Laetrile” [SH] “Zoning: Examples” [SH] |
|
6 |
Case Study: The FCC’s ‘Fairness Doctrine’ Case Study: Rent Control |
“The FCC’s ‘Fairness Doctrine’” [SH] Walter Block, “Rent Control” [CEE] |
|
7 |
Video: ABC News Special, “Greed” Midterm test (Wednesday, February 28) |
|
|
8 |
Ethics in Mixed Social Systems |
Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged |
|
9 |
Ethics in Mixed Social Systems |
Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged |
|
10 |
Employment: Modern Employment Wages and Working Conditions Case Study: Minimum Wages
|
Stanley Lebergott, “Wages and Working Conditions” [CEE] Bettina Greaves, “The Liberation of Women” [SH] Linda Gorman, “Minimum Wages” [CEE] |
|
11 |
Employment: Discrimination & Affirmative Action Case Study: Affirmative Action |
Linda Gorman, “Discrimination” [CEE] Case: “McAleer v. AT&T” [SH] |
|
12 |
Money, Information, & Financial Markets |
“Quotations on Money” [SH] “Francisco’s Money Speech,” Atlas (Part 2, Ch. 2) |
|
13 |
Insider Trading. Case Study: Davidson’s Insider Trading Dilemma |
David Haddock, “Insider Trading” [CEE] “An Accountant’s Small-Time Insider Trading” [SH] |
|
14 |
Essay due (Monday, April 30) Conclusions |
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A copy of this syllabus can also be found online at www.StephenHicks.org.
For Honor Code and Disability issues, consult the College’s website.
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