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LGST 210-005
Corporate Responsibility and Ethics
Tuesdays and Thursdays
1:30-3:00 pm
This course offers a multifaceted, philosophical introduction to business ethics. We will begin by asking the “big” questions about economic life. What is the rationale for capitalism? Is it just? Who should make the most money? How should we decide who does the hard work? What role (if any) does deception play in our system? After looking at the big issues, we will look at more concrete questions about the obligations of corporations, managers and employees. Do corporations have any obligations besides making money for their shareholders? Can a manager fire an employee just because he doesn’t like him? Can a multinational that operates in a country where child labor is the norm hire children? Readings will be drawn from moral and political philosophy, business reviews, economics, magazines, and popular literature. Special emphasis will be placed on issues relating to labor and employment.
LGST 226, PHIL 279, PPE 226
Markets, Morality and the Future of Capitalism
Tuesdays and Thursdays
1:30-3:00 p.m. (Room: SHDH 1201)
Markets play a central role in the life of a capitalist democracy. But is this a good thing? Should we let markets decide who is rich and who is poor? Who makes decisions and who follows them? Whose ideas get heard and whose ideas do not? The goal of this class will be to examine the market from the perspective of various social values to see whether we should want a market system and, if so, what kind of market system we should want. Among the issues we will examine are the following. Does the market contribute to the common good? If so, how? Does the market conflict with the idea that all human beings are of equal value? What is the relation between the market and freedom? Does the market liberate us or oppress us? Can we reconcile the market with our democratic ideals? What role should corporations play in a healthy democracy? What role should markets play in an increasingly globalized world? We will read several important philosophers, economists and political theorists writing on these issues, including Adam Smith, John Rawls, Amartya Sen, Friedrich Hayek, Karl Marx, Robert Nozick, Jürgen Habermas, Robert Dahl, and others.
