ethics and business
For part 1, the assignment is to take a position on the extent to which you believe a free market is ethically justified. Your paper’s grade will be based on how strong a case you can make in support of what you believe to be right, using one or more of the ethical theories discussed in part 1 (and further explained in my commentary), which serve as the basis for your evaluation. You might personally believe the laissez-faire market supported by Friedman is best. You might side with DesJardins & McCall’s criticisms of that idea. Or you might believe neither goes far enough, or that what would be best is some sort of middle ground between them. Regardless, the grade assigned to your work will not be based what side you take. Agreement with any of our authors is not a course requirement!
Paper Writing Guidelines:There is more than one way to write a good essay. If you have a lot of writing experience, the guidelines I am about to provide may not be necessary. But if you do not have a lot of writing experience (and most who are taking this course don’t!) these general guidelines will provide a template which, if followed, should make it almost impossible to go wrong, regardless of your topic!Your essay should proceed in a step-by-step fashion from the introduction through the main “body” of your argument to culminate in its conclusion, at which point the thesis should be compellingly supported. The following outline details the tasks involved in this process, which are usually best taken in the order presented here. Approximately a paragraph should be dedicated to each.1) The introduction must inform the reader of the topic you will address, mention any sources you plan to draw from in making your argument (such as the example of the issue you are writing about and the authors whose ideas you will discuss), and indicate the specific point the essay is intended to support (also known as your “thesis”). It is often good to open with a general statement of an important problem, a rhetorical question, or some sort of dramatic flourish which will attract your reader’s interest before narrowing in on the specifics of the paper. 2) The “body” of your essay should present the relevant details of the example you are using immediately after the introduction. a. Note: the example may be real or fictional, e.g. taken from a film, but it cannot be a hypothetical of your own invention. It should also not be a personal anecdote, as that leaves a potential reader unable to fact-check your example. Anecdotes are better placed in the concluding section of your paper, where they can put a more personal spin on what has up until then been a more objective presentation.3) Next, present the ideas of the author which you will use to analyze the example.4) Show how those ideas apply to your example, indicating what you believe the author would have to say about it and why. 5) Offer your reasons for agreeing or disagreeing with what you presented in step 4. a. If you are only writing about one author, this step might turn out to be your conclusion.6) If you are discussing a second author, step 3 must be repeated with regard to their ideas as well. 7) If you are discussing a second author, step 4 must also be repeated. a. Note: if you plan to support one and oppose the other, discuss the one you oppose first. That way, your criticism of that author can serve as the transition to your presentation of the second, showing the importance of turning elsewhere for a better perspective.8) If you are discussing a second author, step 5 must also be repeated. a. If you are discussing two authors, this step may turn out to be your conclusion.9) If you have additional observations of your own to add, or broader claims to make regarding the point you have shown in this paper, place them in the final paragraph, which will then be your conclusion.
