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PHIL 164.001 – Morality and Business

IDEAs in Action: Which curricular requirements does this course satisfy?

Instructor: Zach Ferguson. This course meets via remote, mostly asynchronous (RM) instruction.

Most of you will need to work a job to make a living. Many of you will hold positions of institutional authority at work. Even if you don’t work, you will need to buy and sell things. Nearly every sphere of life is influenced by business, commerce, or employment, and we all face important moral questions in the course of our professional lives. This class investigates the moral obligations we have as employees, employers, managers, owners, and consumers, as well as political questions concerning markets, regulation, and employment. Possible topics of discussion include:

  • Is the sole purpose of businesses the maximization of profit?
  • What, if any, social responsibilities do businesses bear?
  • Are consumers morally complicit when they purchase products produced in unethical ways?
  • What, if anything, is wrong with sweatshop labor?
  • Are CEOs paid too much?
  • How should businesses account for environmental concerns in their operations?
  • What do employers and employees owe each other?
  • Are there some things that should not be for sale? For example, should we have markets for human organs, surrogacy services, or sex work?

Students will have the chance to vote on the final topics of the class!

 

Have registration questions? Our PPE Administrators can help! Please email them at ppeprogram@unc.edu for assistance.