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PHIL 160: Business Ethics

FALL 2020

Sections: 45380 (10:45 start time) and 45388 (12:15 start time)

Prof: Dr. O’Connor Class Meetings: T, Th Office: PH 350U

Office hour: By appointment only, Tuesdays: 1.45-2.45 on Zoom. If you are in class during this time we can discuss another day/time. If you make an appointment for another day/time and do not keep it I will not meet with you except on a Tuesday between 1.45 and 2.45. If you miss a second scheduled meeting I will not make another appointment with you; you will have to arrive early at a class meeting to discuss your issue.

Email: patricia.oconnor@qc.cuny.edu Please be advised that I do not check my email Friday-Sunday. If you email me on one of those three days your message will be answered in the order in which it was received, starting on Monday.

Phone: Do not call! Since I will not be in my office I will not be retrieving voice mail messages.

Website:

Texts are online: either they are on the "Class Materials" page of the website or the URL is given in the syllabus.

When you registered for PHIL 160 you committed to learning how to use accurate ethical reasoning on, as the course description puts it, "topics [including] the relationship between law and ethics; duties and responsibilities among employers, employees, stockholders, the public, and the environment; and issues involved in hiring, retention, marketing, investment, information disclosure, accounting, and advertising." You committed to learning material to be used in making "real life" business decisions.

When you decided to take this specific PHIL 160, you signed up for a business class in the philosophy department. The main goal of this class is to get your reading, analytic, and reasoning skills developed to the point where you will be able successfully to deal with complex business ethics cases that have appeared in news articles, in preparation for the ethical issues you will encounter as a business person. (For that reason you will not be given, or allowed to use, canned so-called "cases," which are secondary source material simplified for classroom use. When you enter the business world you will not have a person at your workplace to pre-chew your problems for you.)

The norms of the business world will also apply to this specific PHIL 160. For example, in this class late work receives no credit, just as it would receive no credit in a business setting--and might, in fact, get you fired. Virtually all businesses are organized in teams. In this class, you will be assigned work to do in teams. Just as in business, if your team has a problem with the performance of one of its members you need to see your manager--me--as soon as you have identified the issue, not half-way through the project. In business you may called upon to do a task for which you feel you are not ready. I will be asking questions of specific individuals during class discussion. You may feel you are "not ready" to answer the question. You are expected to do the best you can to answer it anyway. In business you must be able to present your work orally. In this class a major portion of your grade rests on an oral presentation (on Zoom) of a business ethics case you have analyzed and for which you have developed ethical recommendations.

If the fact that this is a business class run according to the norms of business is a problem for you, the best thing you can do is immediately get into a different section of PHIL 160. If that's impossible, you should drop the class and take it from another professor in some future semester.

Perhaps it is becoming clear that for many of you this class will be a serious challenge. There is one additional respect in which it is a business class: one goal is to develop the intellectual skill set you will need to succeed in business. Sadly for them, the best-developed "learning skill" most college students possess is memorization. Memorization is, however, completely useless in the twenty-first century. There are no entry-level, let alone managerial, jobs as a "memorizer." Instead, to be successful in business you need to be skilled in analytic reading, accurate analytic and synthetic reasoning, and making good arguments. We will spend time in class developing all three of these skills. Since most of you have not previously had the opportunity to acquire them, you will likely find this aspect of the course frustrating--and possibly threatening to your ego. If you are someone who firmly believes that your every grade "should" be an "A" or a "B," this class in which you will be expected to develop skills you've never even heard of before is clearly not a good fit for you: how will you immediately earn an "A" or "B" in something you've never done?

The content of the course is a mixture of business and philosophy. The source of the accurate ethical reasoning you will learn is philosophy. Neither law, religion, nor culture are sources of ethical reasoning. There is no doubt that you bring preconceived notions about ethics, drawn from these three sources and perhaps from others, into this class. Many of those notions will be to some degree inaccurate. Some of them will be flatly false. If you persist in attempting to use such ideas while reasoning in this class, you will probably fail. In philosophy there are no "alternative facts," and arguments that use disreputable ideas are unsuccessful on those grounds alone.

If you hope to succeed in the class you will have to replace any of your ideas that are inaccurate with accurate ones, and then apply them to generate analyses of ethics cases. If for any reason you believe that you are incapable of giving up inaccurate ideas, this section of PHIL 160 is an exceptionally poor fit for you. As already mentioned, you also cannot hope to succeed by mere memorization of accurate ideas. Both business and philosophy require you to do things with ideas. If you refuse, or even simply fail, to learn the ideas, you cannot do things with them. Your situation will be similar to a person who refuses, or simply fails, to learn Excel and then is required to produce a functional, accurate Excel spreadsheet. You cannot produce functional, accurate ethical reasoning without learning philosophical ethical ideas. You will know you have learned them when you can state them accurately in your own words.

You will practice putting the ideas into your own words by talking them through with teammates, by putting them in writing, by oral participation in class. Your full and active oral participation in class is required. You should plan to attend class every day and actively to participate in 80% of class meetings.

You must have the reading, or your notes on the video for the day, in front of you during class meetings! This is a discussion class, and if you do not have the reading/notes you will not be able to follow the discussion. Sometimes at the end of class I will ask you to email your notes on the video to me. These notes will factor into your participation grade.

Academic requirements

1. Courtesy. Be advised that, as in a business setting, you are expected to be on time and to focus exclusively on the meeting. We can all tell by now when someone is not focused on the meeting. It should go without saying that you may not eat, play music, etc. during class, and that it is your responsibility to make certain that you are not the source of distractions for the class. You should use the Zoom "raise hand" function or send me a private chat message when you want to speak, and this should be done only after the speaker has reached a pause in his/her comments or remarks. You may not attempt to interrupt/talk over the instructor or a classmate.

2. Preparation. The material indicated on each date on the syllabus is to be prepared for that class. This includes the readings as well as written work. Written work that is not submitted as an Adobe attachment, or is not in 12-pt TIMES NEW ROMAN, double-spaced, pages numbered, dated, class section indicated will receive no credit (NC) after the first assignment of the semester. Unless otherwise specifically stated, the assignments are individual assignments. You may not collaborate on them. Evidence of collaboration will result in F grades for the assignments of all persons involved. Theft of intellectual property from websites is plagiarism. First instance of plagiarism: F for assignment. Second instance: F for course.

3. Timeliness. Both you and your work must be present on time, always. I will take attendance at the beginning of class. If you are late to class and miss roll call you must send me an email by 9 p.m. that day stating (a) that you were late and (b) in one sentence, the main idea of that day's class. If you do not do this the recorded absence will stay in the record. On any given day I may also call the roll at the end of the class. If you have left our meeting early you will be marked absent.

Just as in business, all written work is due when stipulated. Written material handed in late will receive no credit, although you will receive feedback on it. Submitted written work that is not a correctly-formatted Adobe file (see [2] above) will, after the first assignment of the semester, receive an automatic no credit (NC) grade.

4. Adherence to Work Requirements

A. Quantity. You must complete at least 60% of the assigned work for the class, including note-taking on videos and all categories of participation. If you do not, you will receive a WU grade for the class. This grade is worse than an F.

Be advised that QC policy prohibits automatically assigning INC grades. Thus, if you are unable to complete the course you must meet with me to request an INC.

B. Quality. Unless otherwise indicated, written assignments will receive standard letter grades F-A+. The most common cause of F grades, and other low grades, is failure to follow content instructions. In business, the instructions are not negotiable. In this class, the instructions are not negotiable. If you don't understand the instructions, ask questions until you do. That is your responsibility, not mine. I am not a telepath and therefore am not able to determine whether you understand what you have been told. When in doubt, ASK.

Any work that does not conform to format instructions will, after the first assignment in the semester, receive no credit (NC) at all. In other words, you may make this mistake exactly once before your grade suffers.

5. Course Grade Constituents Participation 40%. Argument and fallacy assignments total 10%. First three exams total 20%. Case presentation 15%. Final 15% Exams and case presentation will receive standard letter grades (A+ through F). Argument and fallacy assignments, and quizzes, may be graded either A+ through F or NC -- √ +, at the instructor's discretion. No so-called “extra credit” is available in this class.

Participation

The primary mode for philosophy is discussion. It is 40% of your course grade. If you will often not be in class, are determined not to be prepared for class, know yourself incapable of talking in public, or have discovered that you cannot focus when online for 75 minutes, this class is not a good fit for you. I strongly suggest you drop it. On any day that it becomes clear that the class as a whole cannot have a productive discussion, I will give you a writing assignment and dismiss the class. You will be held responsible for learning by yourself the material that should have been discussed. Each day you are absent during case presentations by your classmates you will lose .5 from your participation grade for the course.

Types/Value

1. Voluntary. 20% of course grade. Answers, questions, and comments that contribute to class discussion of philosophical content. Mechanical questions (such as "When is _____ due?") or comments (such as "I didn't watch the video") have no philosophical content and do not earn credit. Obviously you must attend class to participate! But attendance is not itself participation. See pp. 6-7 in the syllabus for how to earn credit. If you want to track your grade in voluntary participation, you must record your daily participation yourself. If you wish you may use the same schema for this that I do: NC, --, √ (average), + (significant). I will answer questions about your voluntary participation grade only after you give me a copy of your own record of it.

2. Involuntary. 20% of course grade. Examples: Working in groups/teams, either in Zoom breakout rooms or outside class time. Giving a substantial answer (even if it is incorrect) to a question the instructor asks about an important idea from the day's reading/video. On any day that you are clearly not paying attention to the class meeting (don't know what we are discussing let alone how to begin answering a question) or don't have the text/notes for the video in front of you, or violate courtesy criteria, you will earn an F in this category. Such an F will override any credit you might have earned that day in category (1). Grading schema as specified above for "voluntary" participation.

Quizzes

If it becomes necessary I will give quizzes. A simple quiz might consist of a question about the reading or video assigned for the day. For example, I may ask “What is the main idea of paragraph one?" I will then provide class time for you to email me an answer to the question. A more complex quiz you will answer on your own time, outside of class, and email to me by a specified day/time. If you are not in class when the question is asked, you cannot take the quiz. Grades are given according to the same schema as participation grades and will either enhance or damage your "involuntary" participation grade.

Precursor Intellectual Skills

27 Aug: Read: Syllabus. Both I and you will have the opportunity to ask questions about this document. The goal is that you understand as accurately as possible the class you will be taking. We will also be discussing the concept of restorative justice.

1 Sept: Read: Angie's List case (online on website). Be prepared to state what unethical acts were committed, by whom, whose interests were damaged (and how), and what restorative justice steps should be taken (and by whom).

3 Sept: Have in front of you: your written answers to the Angie's List case questions. You must be prepared to defend your answers in discussion. Your revised answers are due to the instructor no later than 9 a.m. on 9/7.

8 September: Read: teaching/vocab/argument.html. Discuss: arguments, premises, conclusions.

10 September: Read: , section 1 (validity) only. Prepare answers to the exercises (highlighted in yellow). Discuss validity.

15 September: Read: , sections 2, 3, and 5. Prepare answers to the exercise in the "sound" section. By 10 p.m., submit to the instructor via email your answer to the Angie's List restorative justice question, revised to be a persuasive argument.

17 September: Discuss: problems with submitted Angie's List arguments; list of argument topics.

22 Sept: Due: One argument from the topics list. You will be putting this argument on Zoom chat so that we can all read it and ask questions about the form of the argument and the truth of its premises. This is our review class for the first exam.

24 Sept: First exam.

29 Sept: NO CLASS

1 Oct: Read: first two pages of and the equivocation, begging the question, and false dilemma sections of . Discuss: How to argue successfully that a given fallacy is exemplified in an argument. Distribute a list of arguments that may exemplify one of the seven fallacies discussed.

6 Oct: Due: Your argument showing that one of the arguments on the list is/is not fallacious, and why. You will be reading your work to the class and taking questions on it. You will submit this work in writing (revised as necessary given classmates' questions) on or before 9 a.m. on 8 Oct. Assign teams to work on fallacy list.

8 Oct: Due: Work plan and progress report from each team, to be delivered orally. Once all teams have reported teams that have crafted one or more of their own fallacy definitions may seek feedback from classmates and the instructor.

13 Oct: Due: completed informal fallacy list. During class you will email this both to the instructor and to another group. Read: Heinz Dilemma (at end of "Ethics Overview," on website.) Have prepared for discussion: ethical evaluation of Heinz's action, which must be supported by a good argument! Distribute in class: Cathie Mitchell dilemma. On/before 9 a.m. 10/19, email your team's evaluation of each fallacy definition to the instructor and to the team whose work it is.

15 Oct: Have prepared for discussion: Cathie Mitchell recommendation. This recommendation must be supported by a good argument. Discuss: Cathie Mitchell arguments/recommendations; review for exam.

20 Oct: Second exam

Ethical Framework

22 Oct: Read: remainder of "Ethics Overview" (website).

27 Oct: Watch and Discuss: conformity bias, overconfidence bias, role morality, four components of acting ethically, problems of selective attention in business context, ethical intuition. *Note* Students will always benefit by using the glossary on this site to deepen their understanding of concepts in the videos that will be discussed in class.

29 Oct: Read "Kitchen Table Ethics Rules" (website). Discuss p. 2 only: the internalized ethical standards that form our ethical intuitions.

3 Nov: Watch: Discuss: the self-serving bias and tactics for overcoming it. Review: how to make a decision when KTER conflict. Distribute: Agnes dilemma.

5 Nov: Reread: "Kitchen Table Ethics Rules" (website). Focus on p. 1. Watch: Discuss: Why ethical relativism is not a viable position, especially not in a business context; Agnes dilemma.

10 Nov: Watch: . Discuss: What is a rationalization, what are the six discussed here and how do we distinguish among them; what tactics should we use to disarm our rationalizations before we use them as a basis for acting unethically? Also discuss Agnes dilemma. Distribute AT &T whistleblower URL.

12 Nov: Watch: . Discuss: moral ownership, moral efficacy, and moral courage; AT&T case; ethics case assignment.

17 Nov: Read: the pdf located at digitalcommons.sacredheart.edu › cgi › viewcontent. It is a book review of Mary Gentile's Giving Voice to Values. You should read p. 310 through the section entitled "Reasoned responses to rationalizations," which begins on p. 312 and ends at the top of the second column on p. 313. Discussion: focus on sections "Building confidence and skill," "Finding voice," and "Reasoned response to rationalizations."

19 Nov: Review ethical challenges and tactics for meeting them; strong and weak arguments. Reminder: first part of ethics case assignment is due on/before 9 a.m. 11/24!

24 Nov: Third Exam The schedule for ethics case presentations will be posted online (website) during the exam. The schedule will be determined by an online random number generator.

27 Nov: By 10 p.m. you will receive an email telling you what case you will be presenting.

Case Presentations

Dec 1, 3, 8 and during final exam time: oral case presentations. The written version of your presentation is due 24 hours after you have given the presentation orally. This written version is your final exam. If you do not submit it on time and in the correct format you will receive an NC as your final exam grade.

Students who fail to attend the full final exam Zoom session will receive an NC as their final exam grade.

Final exam: 45380 Tuesday 12/15 11-1

45388 Thursday 12/17 11-1

Please note that you should carefully check the final exam schedule to verify that you do not have conflicts. If you have a conflict, you must go to the Registrar's Office to get it resolved. Faculty are not responsible for adjudicating conflicts of final exams.

Voluntary & Involuntary Participation Criteria

By the second week of class you should be participating regularly. Merely attending class does not constitute participation. Attending, having done the reading, does not constitute participation. YOU MUST TALK in order to participate. If you feel that your personal characteristics will regularly prohibit you from talking, you should give serious thought to dropping this class.

Each class will be a conversation about the material assigned for that day. You should contribute to the conversation regularly; for an “A,” you should do so in at least 80% of the class meetings. Both questions and answers/comments are good ways of contributing. The objective is for you to show in class that you have read and thought carefully about the material. “Show” = TALK. It does you no good in respect of your participation grade merely to read. I am not a telepath and therefore cannot determine that your unarticulated thoughts are insightful.

Voluntary participation will be assessed according to the following criteria. CONTENT: philosophical, not mechanical; substantive; based on having read/watched the material; directly related to the point under discussion; leads to a significant response by instructor or other students. FORM: is not an interruption (either of the instructor or of another member of the class); is not a personal attack on a member of the class; is brief and to the point; is not repetition of an earlier question/comment (though it may be a follow-up).

If you have questions about what the criteria mean, please ask them early in the semester. By mid-semester it will be too late for you to recover from having been mistaken about their meaning. If at any time you have questions about your current participation grade, you must give me a copy of your record of your own participation before we can have a conversation about your participation grade. No data, no conversation.

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