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4 pages/β‰ˆ1100 words
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APA
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Social Sciences
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Essay
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English (U.S.)
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Topic:

Business and Ethical Obligations

Essay Instructions:

Assignment Details
Overview:
Use the following 2 starting points to develop your essay on morality and ethics:
The article by Jay Feldman: Sunday Dialogue: How Corporations Behave
Alfred North Whitehead's controversial statement, "What is morality in any given time and place? It is what the majority then and there happen to like and immorality is what they dislike" (BrainyQuote, 2018).
Think about those two perspectives, and then select 1 of the focal questions in Part 1 of the assignment. Your response to the selected focal question will guide you to formulate a thesis statement.
Discuss the article and Whitehead’s statement in the introduction, body, and conclusion of the essay.
Locate and utilize at least 2 credible sources to support the arguments presented in your paper. Make sure you cite them appropriately within your paper, and list them in APA format on your Reference page.
Ensure that your paper is 4–5 pages in length, not counting the Title page and Reference page. In accordance with APA formatting requirements, your paper should include a Title and Reference page, should be double-spaced, and should include a running head and page numbers.
Part 1: Formulating the Philosophical Thesis Statement
Select only 1 of the following focal questions to answer to help formulate your thesis statement:
Businesses can have ethical standards, but businesses are not moral agents. Do you agree or disagree?
Is it true that the "bottom line" of a business is profit and profit alone?
In business, are there other, less tangible goals that are intrinsic to—and just as important as—making money?
In a business environment, why should people be moral as individuals?
Why should a corporation or organization be moral?
Could you apply the first formulation of Kant's categorical imperative to a business environment?
Part 2: Developing the Essay
Identify your thesis statement (argument claim) within the introduction of your paper.
Conduct research using library resources. Please use the article presented above (Sunday Dialogue: How Corporations Behave) as well as 2 additional sources.
Outline your essay, considering deontological ethics, teleological ethics, moral objectivism, and ethical relativism in your argument.
Provide at least 3 valid reasons to support your argument. Remember to think critically here—there likely are reasons that may not be evident at first.
Also, be sure to include the following in your essay:
Use of explanations of philosophical concepts—such as utilitarianism, categorical imperatives, process philosophy, moral relativism, moral absolutism, ethical relativism, moral objectivism, deontological ethics, or teleological ethics—to structure your essay and provide evidence to support your claims.
Remember, you can use these concepts to argue for or against a particular statement (e.g., from a deontological perspective, something might be "right," whereas that same thing may be "wrong" from a utilitarian perspective).
Your argument and reasons (claims) should be defended by philosophical concepts supported by evidence, which is based on your research.
Part 3: Conclusion
Consider morality and ethics from the perspective of Alfred North Whitehead's process philosophy and Immanuel Kant's universal categorical imperative. After conducting your research and writing your essay, could you conclude that businesses can have ethical standards, despite the fact that businesses are not moral agents? Explain why or why not. Sum up your argument based on the evidence presented in the paper.
Part 4: Review Checklist Before Submitting Essay
Your essay should be checked for proper use of grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
You may find that you change your mind on the issue as you are writing your paper. That is fine, but be sure to present your ultimate decision at the beginning of the paper, and stick to it consistently throughout. This may require that you go back and change paragraphs to support your changed thesis statement.
Your argument should be clear, concise, and supported with logically valid claims and evidence followed by APA in-text citations.
A Reference page documenting your sources should be included. Please use the article presented above (Sunday Dialogue: How Corporations Behave) as well as 2 additional sources.
Your paper must be 4–5 pages in length, not counting the Title page and Reference page. In accordance with APA formatting requirements, your paper should include a Title and Reference page, should be double-spaced, and should include a running head and page numbers.
References
BrainyQuote. (2018). Alfred North Whitehead quotes. Retrieved from https://www(dot)brainyquote(dot)com/quotes/alfred_north_whitehead_133258
Feldman, J. N. (2012, September 1). Sunday dialogue: How corporations behave. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www(dot)nytimes(dot)com/2012/09/02/opinion/sunday/sunday-dialogue-how-corporations-behave.html.
Grading Criteria
Assignment Criteria Proficient Descriptor Points
Philosophical thesis statement Develops an introduction to the essay that includes the following:•
Identifies 1 of the 6 questions that was selected for the assignment.
States why the selected question on morality and ethics is important.
Presents the philosophical thesis statement, a single sentence that represents the student’s position and previews what will be covered in the essay.
/20 pts.
Background for argument claim Expands the argument claim on morality and ethics that will be presented in the paper.
Refers to the Feldman article and at least 2 additional sources in building the argument.
Discusses deontological ethics, teleological ethics, moral objectivism, and ethical relativism as topics for building the argument. /20 pts.
Support for the argument Provides at least 3 valid reasons to support the argument.
Demonstrates critical thinking by using appropriate supporting reasons that may be either evident or obscure.
Explains philosophical concepts, referring to credible sources. Any, all, or more of the following may be included:
Utilitarianism
Categorical imperatives
Process philosophy
Moral relativism
Moral absolutism
Ethical relativism
Moral objectivism
Deontological ethics
Teleological ethics
/30 pts.
Application of philosophical theory Applies philosophical concepts supported by evidence, based on the student’s research that refers to credible sources.
Philosophical concepts related to morality and ethics are clearly used to argue for or against a statement. /15 pts.
Morality and ethics remarks Briefly describes morality and ethics from the following 2 perspectives:
Alfred North Whitehead's process philosophy.
Immanuel Kant's universal categorical imperative
Defends whether or not businesses are moral agents.
/20 pts.
Conclusion Concludes that businesses can or cannot have ethical standards.
Summarizes one’s own argument. /15 pts.
Format Provides a 4–5-page essay that is double-spaced and includes a Title page, Reference page, running head, and page numbers. /10 pts.
Credibility Credible information sources (a minimum of 3: the Feldman article and 2 more sources) utilized and are clearly identified, properly cited, and referenced using APA style. /10 pts.
Grammar & Mechanics Sentences are clear, well-articulated, and free from grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors /10 pts.
Total /150 pts.

Essay Sample Content Preview:

Business and Ethical Obligations
Author’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Business and Ethical Obligations
Introduction
The interface between ethics and business has always been a contentious subject matter. However, a deep investigation, with a focus on long term overarching implications shows that ethical obligations are closely intertwined into the bottom-line of business (Heath, Kaldis, & Marcoux, 2018). This essay sets out to conduct a thorough enquiry with particular focus on the insights shared by Feldman (2018) as well as the controversial quote by Whitehead (2018). The said article and the argument are used as the basis for enquiry.
Summarizing the Article and the Statement
In his article, Feldman refers to his working experience with a company as well as his general observation in the near past. According to him, the companies have abandoned the practices of applying to the moral code of conduct considering it an integral part of the business. Their overly profit-oriented approach is largely at the bottom of the devastating economic consequences facing the world today. He further remarks that while seen in the long run, the offset between ethics and bottom-line dissipates (Feldman, 2018). In other words, the businesses seem to suffer in economic crises that has its roots in their immoral practices. On the other hand, Whitehead states, "What is morality in any given time or place? It is what the majority then and there happen to like and immorality is what they dislike" (Whitehead, 2019). Hence, both the arguments partially contradict each other.
Major Theories Applied to the Case
There are different theories that can be used to check the viability of the notion according to which businesses need to subscribe to a code of conduct as a way to contribute to their bottom line. Theories of ethics are broadly divided into three types including virtue ethics, deontological ethics, and consequentialism. Virtue ethics focuses on the nature of an action based on its universal understanding (Heath, Kaldis, & Marcoux, 2018). As for deontology, it attaches importance to the nature of an action. However, it is not to be confused with virtue ethics because it may consider an action right or wrong based on the intention at its base (MacKinnon & Fiala, 2016). For example, telling a lie can be wrong from the perspective of virtue ethics but right while seen through a deontological lens as long as it can serve the greater cause. Conversely, consequential ethics is focused on the ends of an action rather than the nature of the action in and of itself (MacKinnon & Fiala, 2016). In other words, an action is ethically justifiable if it leads to a justifiable consequence. Hence, deontology warrants immediate judgment while the consequential status of an action can only be judged when outcomes are observable.
The ideas shared by Feldman give a mixed impression of both deontology and consequentialism. Emotions flow in his nostalgic description of how the corporate world has shifted from its ethical compliance to a profit-oriented model (Feldman, 2012). This shows that the author considers downsizing and all other initiatives that businesses take in their self-interest intrinsically wrong, which gives h...
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