Business Ethics

Catalog description

Business ethics is not just about CEOs behaving badly. Even if sweatshops treat humans poorly, do they deserve thanks for their labor market expansion? Must corporate trustees seek only profit for their shareholders, or also benefit their surrounding communities? Who picks up the cost of environmental degradation by airlines, factories, and farms? What exactly does 'truth in advertising' mean, and how limited should marketing be to children, or about alcohol and pharmaceuticals? How should the imperatives of the 'free market' or 'capitalism' be treated in democratic decision-making? The course will develop a student's critical skills in evaluating the philosophical foundations and justifications for business and economic systems, the relation between morality and contemporary business practices, and central positions and figures in the history of philosophical analysis of these questions.