Business Ethics

Undergraduate / Graduate

Students in this course will gain experience formulating coherent arguments about the ethics and role of business, by relating their own views to important ideas about business, democracy and markets. We will use this approach to consider a broad range of tradeoffs and controversies that business leaders often confront. The business environment creates ethical choices that can be hard to think through clearly. It can also subject companies to negative publicity or political pressure, which affects both how they are regulated and how well they attract employees, customers and partners. Business leaders are often called upon to make credible and persuasive arguments defending their products, their firms, their industries, or the capitalist or market system in which they operate. The quality and accuracy of arguments in this environment vary, but usually include assertions that a business or its leaders are behaving unethically or lack legitimacy. The ability to assess these claims, and to address them effectively when you think the facts and arguments are on your side, is a crucial skill, especially given the extensive influence of governments, pressure groups and the media. This course requires students to consider how their views on the role and conduct of business relate to the ideas of important thinkers, and to apply their views to business settings by discussing controversial topics or decisions.