UW Smithian Moral Sentimentalism & Working Conditions at Foxconn Paper

In their Applied Ethics Assignments, students will be expected to apply theory to practice.
Critically analyze and morally evaluate specific business practices from within the theoretical
framework provided by one of the particular schools of ethical philosophy studied in Phil 2230:
Moral Issues in Business.
In their Applied Ethics Assignments, students in Phil 2230: Moral Issues in Business are being
graded primarily on the degree to which they can directly demonstrate sufficient knowledge of
the relevant required readings, and apply that knowledge to a critical analysis and moral
evaluation of the given facts of the applied ethics topic of their choosing.
This means that you will be expected to support all of your specific interpretative claims
about the school of moral philosophy that you use in your analysis by referring directly to the
relevant course readings associated with that particular ethical theory, and all of your specific
factual claims about the particular moral issue in business you are analyzing by referring
directly to the provided articles. To ‘refer directly’ to a text means that you will indicate
where in those texts (using a citation which includes a page number, when available)
supporting evidence for your specific claims can be found.
When you borrow the exact words of another author, you must place those words within
quotation marks, and provide an accompanying citation (at the end of that sentence) to
indicate where that quote can be found (i.e., what page in what text). In Phil 2230, students
are encouraged to use a simple in-text author-page or author-date-page system to cite their
sources. For example,
Example # 1 (Quoting): After all, “no man can live well, or indeed live at all, unless he be
provided with necessaries” (Aristotle 1999, 7).
However, even when you paraphrase another author in your own words, you must still
provide an accompanying citation (at the end of that sentence which includes a page number).
For example,
Example # 2 (Paraphrasing): Virtue ethics recognizes that some degree of wealth is required
to live the Good Life (Aristotle 1999, 7).
Although the above are clearly my own words, which is why they are not placed within
quotation marks, the argument they express is not originally mine, which is why a citation is
placed at the end of that particular sentence. Paraphrasing without providing credit (i.e., a
citation) to the original source is a form of academic misconduct, specifically plagiarism.
When you paraphrase, make sure that you thoroughly reword content in your own language.
For example, consider the following:
Example # 3 (Improper Paraphrase): Virtue ethics accepts that no person can live well, or
even live at all, unless they are provided with the necessities of life (Aristotle 1999, 7).
The previous sentence is arguably an unacceptable paraphrase because it is too close to the
language of the original author (e.g., uses the same phrases, changes only a few words and
their ordering, etc.). Remember, insufficient paraphrasing can be construed as a type of
academic misconduct, i.e., plagiarism, even when a citation accompanies that statement.
Quotations of 4 or more lines of length should be presented as ‘block quotes’ so that they are
separated from the main body of your paper, placed in single-spaced, size 10 font, with the
margins reduced on both left and right sides by 1 cm.
The remainder of Applied Ethics Assignment should be formatted as follows: double-spaced,
Times New Roman font, size 12, 2.0 centimetre margins on all four sides. No other headers
are required.
A title page which includes your name, student number, and UW email address should also
accompany the Applied Ethics Assignment.
A ‘Works Cited’ page containing all of your bibliographical sources should also be included
with the Applied Ethics Assignment. Your bibliographical entries should look something like
this:
Aristotle (1999). ‘Book I’. Politics, Jowett (trans.). Batoche Books: Kitchener.
.
Applied Ethics Topics:
Moral Analysis of the Biggest Corporate Scandals of the Decade
Choose ONE of the following topics to analyze.
Length: 5-7 pages (following the formatting instructions & excluding title/bibliography
pages)
1) Aristotelian Virtue Ethics & the Rana Plaza Disaster
Required Readings:
⚫
⚫
⚫
[URL LINK] Aristotle (1999). ‘Book I’. Politics, Jowett (trans.). Batoche Books:
Kitchener.
.
[UW LIBRARY E-BOOK] Dierksmeier, Clauss, & Pirson, Michael (2011). ‘Aristotle’s
Economic Ethics’. Humanistic Ethics in the Age of Globality. Dierksmeier, Amann, et al.
(eds.). Palgrave Macmillan: London.
[URL LINK] Burke, Jason (2014). ‘Rana Plaza: one year on from the Bangladesh
factory disaster’, The Guardian.
.
[URL LINK] Anonymous (2013). ‘Bangladesh garment workers to get compensation
from Loblaw’, CBC.
.
⚫
⚫
[URL LINK] O’Connor, Clare (2013). ‘ ‘Extreme Pricing’ At What Cost? Retailer Joe
Fresh Sends Reps To Bangladesh As Death Toll Rises’, Forbes
.
[URL LINK] Syed, Fatima (2018). ‘A court will decide: what does Loblaw owe the
workers who died making its clothes in Bangladesh?’, The Toronto Star.
.
⚫
2) Smithian Moral Sentimentalism & the Working Conditions at Foxconn
⚫
[URL LINK] Smith, Adam (1904). Read Chapters I-II of Book I of Volume I of The
Wealth of Nations. Methuen & Co. Ltd.: London.
.
AND/OR
⚫
⚫
[URL LINK] Smith, Adam (1790). Read Chapter I and Chapter II of Section 1 of The
Theory of Moral Sentiments, Millar (ed.).
.
[UW LIBRARY E-BOOK] Wells, Thomas (2013). ‘Adam Smith on Morality and
SelfInterest’. Handbook of the Philosophical Foundations of Business Ethics, Luetge
(ed.). Springer: Dordrecht.
[URL LINK] Anonymous (2014). ‘Apple under fire again for working conditions at
Chinese factories’, The Guardian.
.
⚫
⚫
[URL LINK] Barboza, David (2010). ‘After Suicides, Scrutiny of China’s Grim
Factories’, The New York Times.
.
[URL LINK] Merchant, Brian (2017). ‘Life and death in Apple’s forbidden city’, The
Guarian.
.
⚫
3) Mill’s Utilitarianism & the Volkswagen Emissions Scandal
⚫
⚫
⚫
[URL LINK] Mill, John Stuart (2001). ‘What Utilitarianism Is’. Utilitarianism. Batoche
Books: Kitchener.
.
[UW LIBRARY EBOOK] Gustafson, Andrew (2013). ‘In Defense of a Utilitarian
Business Ethic’. Business and Society Review, Vol. 118, Is. 3.
[URL LINK] Anonymous (2015). ‘Volkswagen says 800,000 cars may have false CO2
levels’, BBC.
.
[URL LINK] Topham, Gwyn, & et. al. (2015). ‘The Volkswagen emissions scandal
explained’, The Guardian.
.
⚫
⚫
[URL LINK] Anonymous II (2015). ‘Volkswagen: The scandal explained’. BBC.
.
[URL LINK] Anonymous (2020). ‘Volkswagen ordered to pay $196.5M after pleading
guilty to all Canadian emissions-cheating charges’, CBC.
.
⚫