Ethics in Business

Essay #1 Assignment

Objectives: (1) to develop critical thinking and writing skills (2) to accurately and in detail interpret philosophers we have read (3) to develop your own well argued, unique philosophy.

Instructions: This essay will be in dialogue form. Essays are due 6/15/05 in class, but I encourage you to hand me drafts ahead of time. Essays must be 6-7 double spaced pages (12 point Times New Roman font, 1" margins, no extra spaces between paragraphs). Reminder: Plagiarism is the use of another's words or ideas without citation and is punishable by disciplinary action by the College and automatic failure of this course.

Topic: What is business ethics?

Answer this question by writing a dialogue between yourself and (choose 2 of these) Kung, Kant, Bowie, Mill, or Singer (one cannot choose both Kant and Bowie). This dialogue must include:

• Detailed, accurate statements of and the philosophers' views on the topic
• An original, well argued philosophical position of your own on the topic
• Some amount of comparison/contrast between the philosopher's, and your own positions on the topic

Suggestions for getting started:

• Consider 'setting the scene' of your dialogue
• Try writing in the style of  the philosophers, though avoid quoting from texts
• On scrap paper, first attempt to outline your own premises and conclusions about the topic and then include this argument in the dialogue
• Endeavor to discover what are  the philosophers' premises and conclusions on the topic
• Enliven your dialogue by devising original examples to demonstrate key points and arguments
• Make all three positions on the topic as plausible as you can
• Highlight the similarities and differences between these three positions with interaction between all three characters