Second Major Paper and Related Assignments
Instructor: Dr. Jan Garrett
Prof. Joe Glaser on Plagiarism (You are responsible for knowing what plagiarism is and avoiding it.) Revised March 14, 2005
There are four stages
I. Topic selection - March 15. See topic list.Note: The outline is worth 5 percent, the presentation 3 percent. Total minimum word count for the semester is 2800 words (not counting exams or the outline due March 31).II. Outline - for those doing topics A-G the outline is due March 31;
for those doing papers on other topics the outline is due April 5III. Oral Presentations - start April 7
IV. Second Major Paper - due April 19
slight delay for those whose turn to present does not occur before April 19
Outline - 5 percent of the semester grade Length: At least 200 words; give me word count. (I recommend more than 200, so I can give you more meaningful feedback. I'm looking for some detail under points III and IV at this stage.)
The paper should normally have the following four major parts. If you depart from the suggested framework you ought to be able to explain why in terms of the general spirit of the assignment.
I. Statement of the problem that you are going to discussII. Ethical theories that you are going to use in evaluating the problem (Summary of the relevant features of the theories)
[For instance, two to four selected from among the following]
A. Utilitarianism in general (Ch. 2, 4)III. Relevant factual matters
B. Autonomy Liberalism or Rawls (Ch. 2,
especially his two principles of justice);
cf. also Mixed Economy model in Ch. 3 (199-201).
C. Martha Nussbaum on Capabilities
(complements Autonomy Liberalism)
D. Libertarianism (Ch. 2)
E. Free market model as defended by utilitarianism,
libertarianism, and capitalist justice/
response to demand. (Ch. 4)
F. Contract or Due Care approach extended
beyond the producer-consumer area (Ch. 6)
G. Care ethics (Ch. 2, Ch. 8)
H. Virtue ethics (Ch. 2, probably not appropriate
for most papers, but see Topic S.)
IV. Application of the principles (rooted in ethical theories) to the problem to reach conclusions; where conflicting conclusions are reached from different theories, a reasonable resolution of the difference.
Oral Presentation (3 percentage points) Presentations should be well organized and clear and take about five minutes for each student. If two students are working on the same topic, they should coordinate their presentations and try to avoid repeating each other.
When you are doing the oral presentation, you are the teacher.
The Major Paper Itself (roughly 1300 words). Paper is worth 20 percent of the total grade.
Basic Format Length: Minimum 1300 words or whatever it takes to complete your semester word count requirement (2800 words, not counting outline). Title page and any drawings, quoted material, end notes, or bibliography are additional and should not be included in the word count. Please give me a word count with such additional material excluded.
Title Page Contents: Title of paper, your name, PHIL 321, date turned in.
Pages: 8.5" x 11", 1" margins and page number on each page except title page.
Text: 10-12 point font, typed or word-processed, double-spaced, with spelling checked.
Paragraph length: most paragraphs between 5 and 10 lines.
Page-linkage: staple, upper left-hand corner.
References, notes, etc.: For the Velasquez text, you may use embedded references, e.g., (V, 31), for p. 31 in Velasquez; for other sources, use footnotes, endnotes or embedded references with bibliography. Samples of the embedded reference style are: (A. Smith, 31) for p. 31 in the book by A. Smith (when there is only one A. Smith entry in the bibliography) or (A. Smith 1776, 31), for p. 31 in the A. Smith work published in 1776, when there is more than one A. Smith work in the bibliography. For web page citations, put the complete title, author (if known), URL, and date cited in endnotes or bibliography. Be sure you copy the URL accurately. (For embedded web page citations, use a unique author and/or title identifier and put the more complete information in a bibliography.)
You should come to class on March 15 with at least two options. No more than two people may take on the same topic. You can fall back to your second preference if the first preference turns out to be taken. Two persons with the same topic will likely be required to do their Oral Presentations on the same date. Topic List, with some Suggested Readings
A great variety of material on some of these topics is available through the links on the Ethics Links web site http://www.wku.edu/~jan.garrett/el/.
For Rights of Employees in general (see chapter 8 in Velasquez, esp. 445-47, 463-65; and the ACLU handbook, The Rights of Employees and Union Members, by Wayne N. Outten et al.
A. Employee Rights: Due Process. Present arguments for and against an employee's right to due process, relate them to various ethical theories, and evaluate their comparative strength. (478-80)
B. Employee Rights: Privacy. Present arguments for and against an employee's right to privacy, relate them to various ethical theories, and evaluate their comparative strength.(467-70) See also A Rawlsian Defense of Employee Privacy Rights.
C. Employee Rights: Participatory Management. Present arguments for and against an employee's right to participate in the management of the enterprise in which he or she works, relate them to various ethical theories, and evaluate their comparative strength. (475-78)
D. Job Satisfaction. What guidelines have been proposed for improving job satisfaction? (460-63) What is a moral basis for these guidelines? How do the advocates of sweatshops try to justify downplaying this issue? Are their justifications rationally persuasive?
E. Fair Wages and Working Conditions. What guidelines have been proposed for these matters? Present arguments for and against an employee's right to fair wages and safe and healthy working conditions. (457-60)
F. Discrimination and equal opportunity. See 386-410. (Choose only if you are prepared to discuss utilitarian approaches as well as libertarian and social justice approaches.)
G. Ethics of Political Tactics in Organizations (see especially 463-467, 484-991).
H. Sexual harassment. See especially 410-414 and 406-10. What is sexual harassment? Is the prevailing legal definition of sexual harassment adequate? Is there any danger that the charge of sexual harassment will be used unfairly? Why is sexual harassment wrong? What would utilitarianism, Rawls or autonomy liberals, care theory, libertarianism say about it?
I. Animal Rights. Do we have a right to raise animals for slaughter, for meat, fur, etc.? Do animals have rights that would prohibit this? How can we justify a stance on this issue? (See chapter 5 and "Animal Rights" at Ethics Links.)
J. Ecosystem and species protection. What principles should govern the conduct of business where species loss or ecosystem destruction is a possibility? What ethical theories could be cited in support of such principles? (see especially 288-91; 305-312).
K. Pollution. What moral guidelines ought businesses and/or lawmakers regulating business follow in relation to pollution? What ethical theories could be cited in support of such principles? (See Velasquez chapter 5, especially 287-303.)
L. Toxic wastes. What moral guidelines ought businesses and/or lawmakers regulating business follow in relation to toxic waste production and disposal? What ethical theories could be cited in support of such principles? (See Velasquez chapter 5 generally and 279-83 specifically.)
M. Negative social and psychological impacts of commercial advertising (apart from deception and fraud, which are obviously immoral): What are they? How extensive are they? What moral principles and theories can be used to guide our actions concerning advertising so as to minimize such impacts? (See 356-61in Velasquez chapter 6 for a start.)
N. Advertising to Children. Read Juliet Schor's book Born to Buy (2004) and discuss the phenomenon she describes from the perspective of the ethical theories introduced in this course, especially those in chapters 2 and 6.
O. Genetically modified organisms. What guidelines should be followed by companies that are producing genetically modified organisms? What ethical theories justify these guidelines? (Consider the possible impact on biological diversity as well as impact on human beings and evaluate from consequentialist as well as nonconsequentialist perspectives.) See the body of chapter 5, the case at pp. 325ff., and Biotechnology and Food Quality Issues at Ethics Links.
P. Patents, Copyrights, Imperialism. Is the patenting process being used to secure a future monopoly or near-monopoly by U. S. and European firms over the world's intellectual capital replacing their former domination in, say, the area of production while preserving their general domination of the international market? What is the basic justification for protection of intellectual property? Have recent changes in patent and/or copyright law gone too far (patenting genetic material, whether or not genetically modified, for instance). What is the basis in ethical theory for criticizing some of these changes? (See me for suggested readings.)
Q. Mergers. Should we be concerned about mergers or regulatory changes that allow a few companies to dominate large markets? Why? If so, what should be done about it? (See 228-49.) Justify your position, using ethical theories as appropriate. (You might relate the recent this issue to the FCC's recent moves to allow media empires to control more of the media market.)
R. Insider Trading. What are morally defensible rules to govern this activity? What theories provide justification for these rules? How do some people defend the legitimacy of insider trading? (Illustrate with information from the business news from recent years.) (See especially 445-50)
S. Enron in light of Virtue Ethics. Read an in-depth study of the Enron corporation in the late 1990's leading up to the collapse of Enron in 2001, e.g., Bryce's Pipe Dreams or Watkins' and Swartz's Power Failure. Evaluate the moral qualities (virtues, vices, etc.) of the leading figures in Enron during the late 1990's. What light does virtue ethics shed upon events at Enron?
T. Financial Smoke and Mirrors at Enron. Read an in-depth study of the Enron corporation in the late 1990's leading up to the collapse of Enron in 2001, e.g., Bryce's Pipe Dreams or Watkins' and Swartz's Power Failure. Focus on the activities of Chief Financial Officer Andy Fastow. What moral guidelines was Fastow violating and what theories support those moral guidelines?
U. Limits to Commerce? Should there be limits on what can be bought and sold (e.g., members of endangered species, unique ecosystems, biological parts, cloned individuals, historical sites, sites of religious significance)? If so, what criteria should be used to distinguish the marketable from the unmarketable? What moral theories justify those criteria? (Search sources under "Biotechnology" at "Ethics Links" site and search web for "biopiracy" or "bioprospecting.")
W. High consumption lifestyles. Are they sustainable? Are they morally defensible given their environmental and other consequences? What light do rights theories, utilitarianism, care ethics, and Rawlsian justice shed on our moral duties in this area. (See chapter 5, 308-15. See also "Responsible Consumption" at Ethics Links.)
X. Is the Corporation Inherently Amoral? Most authors of business ethics textbooks, like Manuel Velasquez, appear to believe that corporations can behave ethically, even if they often do not. Read Chapter 1 again for Velasquez's view on this. A new book by Joel Bakan, The Corporation, appears to dispute this, arguing that corporations are pathologically amoral. Acquire and read Bakan's book. Explain these two perspectives and evaluate this debate, giving well-considered reasons for your judgments. [The standard outline given above may not be entirely appropriate to this paper.]