PHIL 120 Ethics of Enterprise and Exchange

PHIL 120

Spring Quarter 2013 - PHIL 120

Announcements & Deadlines:

June 7th - Final Paper are due before 4:30pm in the Main Office - Department of Philosophy.

May 3rd - Midterm Papers are due before 4:30pm in the Main Office - Department of Philosophy

(PLC Hall).

May 8th - Our lecture time will be led by Caroline. She will be projecting for you, the best (some people say) documentary about child labor and sweatshops (in relation to globalization) called:

New Rulers of the World by John Pilger (available also in a book format)

May 22nd - We will have a Guest Lecturer in our class - Steven Brence (Dept of Philosophy, UO).

May 31st - Final Questions will be posted on Blackboard.

June 7th - Final Papers are due before 4:30pm in the Main Office of the Dept of Philosophy (PLC).

Extra-credit Opportunities:
Rule: Go to the event, write 1p single-spaced (normal margins), and email it (doc or pdf format) to me. Deadline to turn them in - Last Day of Class = Friday, June 7th by 9pm.

Forthcoming Events

5) Movie - Documentary “Life and Debt” - Realized by Stephanie Black

Available on VIMEO - here

6)Movies about Globalization, Transportation, and Food: Food Miles
Realized by PBS - Available here
“In the 21st-century global food economy, by the time it's been grown, processed and distributed, most food has traveled an average of 1,500 miles before reaching the plate. As renowned author Michael Pollan elaborates, the effects of this fossil fuel-driven system are detrimental to the environment, to health and to social well-being.”

Passed Events

1) The Two Populisms of the Great Recession: The Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street

with Joe Lowndes, April 18th, 2013, Knight Law Center

2)Information, Contemplation, and the Roots of the American University
with David Levy, May 9th, 2013, Browsing Room, Knight Library
3)New Media, Race and Participatory Politics: Democracy in the 21st Century

with Cathy Cohen, Department of Political Science, University of Chicago

CANCELLED due to Family Emergency (replacement - Food Miles)

4) How Human Beings Got Morality, Religion, Civilization, and Humanity

with Jonathan Haidt, Thomas Cooley Professor of Ethical Leadership, NYU

Additional suggested readings/podcasts:

For another general introduction to Business Ethics, you can also read this great entry in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy by Alexei Marcoux - link.

Week 1 - We have been talking about the difficulty in balancing economic freedom and social equality. This video shows some recent charts about Wealth Inequality in America.

Week 2 - Ethics Bites has realized a great podcast on Business Ethics with Alex Oliver (Cambridge) , David Edmonds (Guest) and Nigel Warburton (The Open University). Their core question is: Should companies consider anything but their shareholders? (available also on iTunes)

Week 3 - The documentary about the Enron Case - called - “The Smartest Guys in the Room” is available also online (here).

Week 4 - Topic 1: Women and Work.
The Economist had a great special report in their Print Edition of Nov 26th, 2011.

Below a few articles: 1) Closing the Gap; 2) Female Labour Markets - The Cashier & The Carpenter; 3) Women in China - The Sky’s the limit; 4) Looking Ahead - Here’s to the next half century.

Topic 2: Affirmative Action -The Economist had a very recent article on this subject - “Time to scrap affirmative action”, April 27, 2013

Week 6 - Topic: Sweatshops & Child Labor

For an economic argument defending the existence of sweatshops, I encourage you to read
Benjamin Powell, In Defense of Sweatshops (along with Paul Krugman’s In Praise of Cheap Labor)

Week 7 - Topic: Globalization

We talk about Jaggar’s article “Is Globalization Good for Women?”. Part of Jaggar’s argument is that globalization is not good for women (and, also children and men) because instead of producing more prosperity and social justice, it produces more poverty and inequality. Catherine Rampell shows that “inequality is most extreme in wealth, not in income” (March 30, 2011 - The NYT).

Week 8 - Topic: Globalization

We continue to discuss about globalization and labor conditions in third world countries.

Last year, the Apple story made the headlines. See, David Pogue’s recent post “What Cameras Inside Foxconn Found” on NYT and, a reply from Adam Ozimek, Taking the Broader Perspective on Foxconn - as well as a recent post Using Globalization For Good from The Economist.

ABC also visited Foxconn. See here the video.

Week 9 - Topic: Globalization & Poverty

The Guardian was mentioning that Cambodian workers have been hurt in Nike factory clash.

Week 10 - Topic: The End of Poverty
The Economist has dedicated a whole issue to the question of poverty. One of the articles - “The World’s Next Great Leap Forward” is available here.

Required Books ( will be available at the Duck Store & on reserve at Knight Library):