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 6/9/05 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.  NOTICE THE DUE DATE HAS BEEN CHANGED!

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