Category: Ethics

Week Three – Philosophical Ethics and Business

DISCUSSION-
From your perspective, what makes a decision or an issue an ethical one? Please explain the differences between ethical/non-ethical on one hand, and non-ethical/ethical, on the other.

Taking this issue from Martin Shkreli has occasionally been dubbed “the most hated man in America”, is someone like Shkreli correct to simply focus completely on his CEO duties as opposed to being concerned for all stakeholders, including hospitals and insurance companies? Is his mentality the logical consequence of a postmodern point of view, where morality is simply what we make of it and what we prefer, or perhaps a negotiating of pragmatic good? Or is there something objectively wrong with his position and demeanor? Develop your argument in 3-4 paragraphs.

For this assignment, identify two character traits that you think a virtuous person should possess. You will then explain what constitutes the vice of deficiency and the vice of excess for each virtue. Each explanation should consist of one paragraph, for a total of four paragraphs. To add clarity to your explanations, you should aim to provide actual examples of these virtues and vices in practice.
Do not use the virtue of courage, no need for a reference page.

Perform the analysis on a case involving some social media or online privacy situation. Keep in mind the topic must involve some moral or ethical conundrum.

Some examples would be using AI to generate posts or content and taking credit, any number of AI systems listening to you and using the information to generate search criteria, trolling, stalking, spreading misinformation, etc. One example would be the arrest of Douglass Mackey (aka Ricky Vaughn) for interfering in the 2016 election (look it up if you are interested).
**Use the attached Case Study Analysis Worksheet as a guideline

Analyze the Decision Point (Am I About to Lose My Job? What Would You Do?), and then answer the questions raised with approximately a one-page synopsis and be prepared to discuss in class.
Each submission should be in Word format.

I have the outline already completed and am sending a copy for you to write the essay by it. The Essay is 6 pages including Title and reference page.

look at other cultures around the world and identify a moral difference between that culture and contemporary American culture (make sure to include a source explaining the cultural difference you identify). Explain whether there is a “right” answer when it comes to this issue and whether one culture can be considered superior or inferior to another. Can we say that a culture is wrong about the way it does things? If so, by what standard? Make sure to justify your answers.
By way of example, you might focus on different cultural attitudes in regard to sexual practices, gender roles, drug use, animals, or norms of respect.
Note: you should focus on moral differences. Do not focus on differences in language, food, sports, or other details that do not pertain to standards of right conduct.

1. Complete the reading and video below.
Kant’s Groundwork Download Groundwork, Section One.
Please watch: Video: The Heinz DilemmaLinks to an external site.. This video presents a classic thought experiment developed by Kohlberg to test moral development. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_2qEOxSTsM
Please watch: Video Interview: Carol Gilligan on Women and Moral DevelopmentLinks to an external site.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2W_9MozRoKE
2. Consider the following questions:
Did Heinz act morally correctly?
Using reasoning based on Kant’s ethics and the categorical imperative, make a case for your answer to the question whether or not Heinz acted in a morally correct manner.
Consider Carol Gilligan’s examples and reasoning with respect to the principle-based reasoning that Kant’s ethics holds as highest. In light of Gilligan’s insights, would you revise or modify your initial response to the question?
Please include details from the texts/video and to provide justification for your own position with respect to the issues.

1. Please complete the readings below and watch the video.
Plato’s “Euthyphro Download Euthyphro.”
Lecture Notes: Plato’s “Euthyphro” and James Rachels’s Analysis of the Divine Command Theory of Ethics (Schiano). These lecture notes introduce the main question in the “Euthyphro” and the exploration of that question by James Rachels in his critique of Divine Command Theory.
Please watch: Video Lecture: Divine Command Theory: Crash Course Philosophy 33Links to an external site.. This video introduces DCT and the Euthyphro Dilemma. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRHBwxC8b8I

2. Please reflect on and formulate in your own words as much as possible the logical problem that Rachels identifies in his exploration of Plato’s question to Euthyphro. Make sure first to define what Divine Command Theory is. Then explain why it is untenable, according to Rachels. This is the most important part of the discussion, namely that you make clear what the logical problem is with DCT.
3. Consider the following questions:
Why is it tempting to appeal to the divine in constructing a theory and foundation for ethical judgment?
Do you think Rachels (and Plato) are correct that DCT does not hold up as a justification for moral/ethical judgment? Please explain, giving reasons for your position.
If you agree with Rachels that DCT is not a reliable way to justify moral/ethical judgment, can you think of an alternative way to justify moral judgments? Would that approach be one that most people should be able to accept? Why or why not?
Please include details from the texts/video and to provide justification for your own position with respect to the issues.

1. Consider the following questions:
In the dialogue (“Euthyphro”) we are reading this week, Euthyphro, in an effort to justify his actions with respect to his father, whom he is taking to court for “impiety,” tells many stories about the gods and what they do. These stories include instances of gods killing their fathers, and Socrates tells Euthyphro that he finds such stories difficult to believe. That’s because they are inconsistent with the idea of a truly perfect god. The stories cannot be true, since it is not legitimate for gods to behave in this manner, imperfectly.
What I’d like us to take up in this discussion is the question, What have you heard people say about God that you find hard to accept because it is inconsistent with the idea of a perfect, loving god? Identify at least one of these descriiptions/assertions. (These assertions may be religious doctrine, e.g., eternal hell for those worthy of it, or simply things you’ve heard people say about god and that may be part of the common conception of god.)
Then give a reason why you find that assertion difficult to accept. (The main reason, and the foundational one in the argument one would write against the selected assertion being true is that is contradicts the perfection of god.)
Please include details from the texts/video and to provide justification for your own position with respect to the issues.