Department of Philosophy and Religion

PHIL 1170, Introduction to Business Ethics

1Fall, 2015

Syllabus

Course Objective: An overview of and investigation into the philosophical/ethical and philosophical/moral

(these two areas are distinctly different) problems in business. Some of these issues are long-standing, while

some are more recently created by modern developments in areas where business thinking comes into

practice, such as with information technology, with socially private vs. public matters, and with legal concerns.

Unlike some business courses, we’ll not use just "the case method." The aim is to have you understand both

the value of and some precise methods for thinking in a manner which benefits you—philosophically and

otherwise—when in the future you need to face any of these issues personally (—and you will).

Philosophical inquiring will be emphasized; in class it will be done via the Socratic Method of learning.

Gini, Marcoux, Case Studies in Business Ethics. 6th ed. Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009.

Supplemental readings (on Blackboard [Bb], in the Library's Reserve Services, from copying

services, etc.) as required.

Kerry Dugan

Office / e-mail: 381 Holmes, x4171 / k.dugan@neu.edu

Conference Hours: Mondays, 13:47-15:47 —or any time by mutual agreement.

e-Mailbox Hours: Monday through Friday, usually 08:00 – 18:00, and as time permits

1 The word “syllabus” has its more recent origin in the Classical Greek language, from the prefix σúν/λ (syn/l)

meaning “together,” “attached,” and the verb βάλλειν (ballein) meaning “to throw.” Thus its meaning in English is

often seen as “to throw together; attached.”

A great many syllabi today are anything but thrown together, with their carefully and often cheerfully

choreographed and itemized lists of day-by-day (or even