Brian Berkey
- Assistant Professor of Legal Studies & Business Ethics
Contact Information
- Primary Email:
bberkey@wharton.upenn.edu - Office Phone:
215-898-3445
- office Address:
664 Jon M. Huntsman Hall
3730 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Research Interests: business ethics, corporate and individual obligations of justice, moral demandingness, climate change ethics, ideal and non-ideal theory, collective obligations, methodology in ethics
Links: Personal Website, CV
Overview
Brian Berkey works in moral and political philosophy (including business ethics and environmental ethics), in particular on questions about the demandingness of morality, individual and corporate obligations of justice, ethical issues arising with regard to climate change, and the relationship between ideal and non-ideal theory. He is also interested in the notion of collective obligations and their relationship to individual obligations, as well as in methodological issues in ethics and political philosophy, including the appropriate role of appeals to intuitions. His work has appeared in journals such as Mind, Philosophical Studies, Canadian Journal of Philosophy, Utilitas, Journal of Business Ethics, and Journal of Applied Philosophy.
Education
Ph.D in Philosophy, University of California-Berkeley
M.A. in Humanities and Social Thought, New York University
B.A. in Philosophy (with honors) and Politics, New York University, summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa
Academic Positions
Berggruen Fellow, Harvard University, Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics (2018-19)
Postdoctoral Fellow, Stanford University, Center for Ethics in Society (2013-15)
Lecturer, University of California-Berkeley, Department of Philosophy (2013)
Research Fellow, University of Melbourne, Social Justice Initiative (2012)
Research
Brian is currently working on papers about sweatshops and exploitation, corporate obligations of justice, the ethics of boycotts, and effective altruism.
Brian Berkey (Forthcoming), Autonomous Vehicles, Business Ethics, and Risk Distribution in Hybrid Traffic.
Brian Berkey (Forthcoming), Prospects for an Animal-Friendly Business Ethics.
Brian Berkey (Forthcoming), Sweatshops, Structural Injustice, and the Wrong of Exploitation: Why Multinational Corporations Have Positive Duties to the Global Poor.
Brian Berkey (2019), Collective Obligations and the Institutional Critique of Effective Altruism: A Reply to Alexander Dietz, Utilitas, 31 (3), pp. 326-333. 10.1017/S0953820819000098
Brian Berkey (2019), Climate Justice, Climate Policy, and the Role of Political Philosophy, Ethics, Policy, & Environment, 22 (2), pp. 145-147. 10.1080/21550085.2019.1625539
Brian Berkey (2019), Collective Obligations and Demandingness Complaints, Moral Philosophy and Politics, 6 (1), pp. 113-132. 10.1515/mopp-2018-0059
Brian Berkey and Eric W. Orts (2019), Review of Ryan Burg, Business Ethics for a Material World, Business Ethics Quarterly, 29 (1), pp. 143-146. 10.1017/beq.2018.39
Brian Berkey (2018), Review of The Ethics of Giving (ed. Woodruff), Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews.
Brian Berkey (2018), Obligations of Productive Justice: Individual or Institutional?, Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, 21 (6), pp. 726-753. 10.1080/13698230.2016.1262315
Brian Berkey (2018), Relational Egalitarianism and the Grounds of Entitlements to Health Care, Ethics Forum, 13 (3), pp. 85-104. 10.7202/1061220ar
Teaching
Current Courses
LGST100 - Ethics & Social Resp
This course explores business responsibility from rival theoretical and managerial perspectives. Its focus includes theories of ethics and their application to case studies in business. Topics include moral issues in advertising and sales; hiring and promotion; financial management; corporate pollution; product safety; and decision-making across borders and cultures.
LGST100001 ( Syllabus )
LGST100002 ( Syllabus )
LGST220 - Int'l Business Ethics
This course is a multidisciplinary, interactive study of business ethics within a global economy. A central aim of the course is to enable students to develop a framework to address ethical challenges as they arise within and across different countries. Alternative theories about acting ethically in global environments are presented, and critical current issues are introduced and analyzed. Examples include bribery, global sourcing, environmental sustainability, social reports, intellectual property, e-commerce, and dealing with conflicting standards and values across cultures. As part of this study, the course considers non-Western ethical traditions and practices as they relate to business.
LGST220401 ( Syllabus )
LGST820 - Int'l Business Ethics
This course is a multidisciplinary, interactive study of business ethics within a global economy. A central aim of the course is to enable students to develop a framework to address ethical challenges as they arise within and across different countries. Alternative theories about acting ethically in global environments are presented, and critical current issues are introduced and analyzed. Examples include bribery, global sourcing, environmental sustainability, social reports, intellectual property, e-commerce, and dealing with conflicting standards and values across cultures. As part of this study, the course considers non-Western ethical traditions and practices as they relate to business.
LGST820401 ( Syllabus )
Past Courses
LGST100 - ETHICS & SOCIAL RESP
This course explores business responsibility from rival theoretical and managerial perspectives. Its focus includes theories of ethics and their application to case studies in business. Topics include moral issues in advertising and sales; hiring and promotion; financial management; corporate pollution; product safety; and decision-making across borders and cultures.
LGST220 - INT'L BUSINESS ETHICS
This course is a multidisciplinary, interactive study of business ethics within a global economy. A central aim of the course is to enable students to develop a framework to address ethical challenges as they arise within and across different countries. Alternative theories about acting ethically in global environments are presented, and critical current issues are introduced and analyzed. Examples include bribery, global sourcing, environmental sustainability, social reports, intellectual property, e-commerce, and dealing with conflicting standards and values across cultures. As part of this study, the course considers non-Western ethical traditions and practices as they relate to business.
LGST299 - SEMINAR IN LAW & SOCIETY
A study of the nature, functions, and limits of law as an agency of societal policy. Each semester an area of substantive law is studied for the purpose of examining the relationship between legal norms developed and developing in the area and societal problems and needs.
LGST820 - INT'L BUSINESS ETHICS
This course is a multidisciplinary, interactive study of business ethics within a global economy. A central aim of the course is to enable students to develop a framework to address ethical challenges as they arise within and across different countries. Alternative theories about acting ethically in global environments are presented, and critical current issues are introduced and analyzed. Examples include bribery, global sourcing, environmental sustainability, social reports, intellectual property, e-commerce, and dealing with conflicting standards and values across cultures. As part of this study, the course considers non-Western ethical traditions and practices as they relate to business.
Awards and Honors
- Berggruen Fellowship, Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, Harvard University, 2018-2019
- Wolpow Family Endowed Faculty Scholar Award, 2018-2019
- Wharton Teaching Excellence Award, 2017-2018
- Penn Integrating Sustainability Across the Curriculum Program, 2016 Description
Awarded half-time undergraduate research assistant to help prepare course on Environmental Ethics and Business.
In the News
- Quoted in Article on Amazon’s Response to Employee Climate Activism, Thomson Reuters - 01/06/2020
- Quoted in Article on Top Energy/Environmental Stories of 2019, Forbes - 12/22/2019
- Interview on “Sweatshops, Structural Injustice, and the Wrong of Exploitation”, Wharton Business Daily - 12/17/2019
- Brief on How Autonomous Vehicles Should Redistribute the Risks of the Road, Wharton Public Policy Initiative - 12/03/2019
- Article on New Ethics Center in Yaoundé, Cameroon, Blog of the American Philosophical Association - 11/14/2019
- Quoted in Article on Uber’s Use of Third-Party Claims Company in Sexual Assault Cases, USA Today - 10/04/2019
- Quoted in Article on Global Climate Strike and Business Response to Activism, Knowledge@Wharton High School - 09/19/2019
- Panel Discussion on CEOs Letter Advocating Gun Control Measures, Knowledge@Wharton/SiriusXM - 09/16/2019
- Panel Discussion on CNN Climate Town Hall, Knowledge@Wharton - 09/05/2019
- Quoted in Article on Walmart Decision and American Politics, CNN Politics - 09/04/2019
- Quoted in Article on Walmart Decision to Stop Selling Handgun Ammo, Los Angeles Times - 09/03/2019
- Quoted in Article on Climate Change and Increased Vaccine Needs, ClimateWire - 07/31/2019
- Panel Discussion on Nomination of Eugene Scalia, Knowledge@Wharton/SiriusXM - 07/24/2019
- Quoted in Article on Environmental Justice, Knowledge@Wharton High School - 07/10/2019
- Quoted in Article on Law, Ethics, and Disruptive Technologies, Technical.ly Philly - 04/30/2019
- Panel Discussion on Supreme Court Lamps Plus v. Varela Decision, Knowledge@Wharton/SiriusXM - 04/25/2019
- Quoted in Article on Ethics and Democracy, Forbes - 04/24/2019
- Early Career Research Spotlight, Blog of the American Philosophical Association - 04/04/2019
- Quoted in Article on Former Governor’s Involvement on Board of Symbiont, Delaware News Journal - 02/14/2019
- Quoted in Article on Hunters Point Superfund Development Site, San Francisco Chronicle - 12/13/2018
- Panel Discussion on US Climate Report, Knowledge@Wharton/SiriusXM - 11/26/2018
- Panel Discussion on District Court Keystone Pipeline Decision, Knowledge@Wharton/SiriusXM - 11/12/2018
- Quoted in Article on Shell’s Approach to Climate Change Issues, Fast Company - 11/01/2018
- Quoted in Article on “Blitzscaling”, CNN Business - 10/31/2018
- Panel Discussion on Climate Change and Food, Knowledge@Wharton - 10/25/2018
- Quoted in Article on Friendship and Business, VICE - 10/19/2018
- Panel Discussion on UN Climate Report, Knowledge@Wharton - 10/12/2018
- Panel Discussion on Corporate Responses to Parkland, Knowledge@Wharton - 03/12/2018
- Quoted in Report on Business Ethics and Moral Philosophy, Knowledge@Wharton/AKO Foundation - 01/15/2018
- Podcast on “The Institutional Critique of Effective Altruism”, Knowledge@Wharton - 12/06/2017
- Quoted in Article on Boycotts and Corporate Behavior, Knowledge@Wharton - 12/01/2017
- Interview on Philosophy in Business Schools, Blog of the American Philosophical Association - 10/04/2017
- Quoted in Article on Corporate Responsibility for Addressing Climate Change, Knowledge@Wharton - 06/16/2017
- Quoted in Article on Renewable Energy and Climate Change, Knowledge@Wharton - 10/10/2016
- Panel Discussion on Campus Free Speech, Knowledge@Wharton - 11/17/2015
- Quoted in Article on Chinese Production of Hereke Carpets, Atlas Obscura - 11/17/2015
- Research Discussion, Knowledge@Wharton - 10/09/2015
- Interview on Volkswagen Scandal, This Morning with Alex Jensen - 09/30/2015
Knowledge @ Wharton
- The Climate Change Debate: Will New Proposals Provide Any Solutions?, Knowledge @ Wharton - 09/06/2019
- Food for Thought: Can Changing Our Diets Save the Planet?, Knowledge @ Wharton - 10/25/2018
- Can the World Change Course on Climate Change?, Knowledge @ Wharton - 10/12/2018
- Gun Control After Parkland: What Can Firms Really Do?, Knowledge @ Wharton - 03/12/2018
- Why It Is Not Enough to Merely Vote for Social Change, Knowledge @ Wharton - 12/06/2017
- Does Your Product Boycott Really Matter?, Knowledge @ Wharton - 12/01/2017
- How Business Can Take the Lead on Combating Climate Change, Knowledge @ Wharton - 06/16/2017
- Solar and Wind Power Are Growing – but Won’t Solve Climate Change, Knowledge @ Wharton - 10/10/2016
- How Injustice Affects Decision-making, Knowledge @ Wharton - 10/09/2015
Activity
Latest Research
In the News
The Climate Change Debate: Will New Proposals Provide Any Solutions?Wharton experts discuss climate change proposals from the 2020 presidential candidates.
Knowledge @ Wharton - 2019/09/6