Weekly Discussion Guidelines
You cannot just login, post several times in one day, and be done. Think of this as a discussion that we may have in the classroom, except that we are doing it online over a week. You are expected to respond to the discussion prompt with your initial post by 11:59 PM on Day 4. After submitting your initial post, provide 2 response posts, on 2 separate days. For example, if you submit your initial post on Day 4, you will submit a response post on 2 different days after Day 4. All posts need to be submitted no later than Day 7.
All posts should be thoughtful, respectful, and add substantive value to the discussion. One or two sentences is not a substantive response. All posts should be written using full sentences in paragraph form. The use of philosophical concepts, wherever relevant, is highly recommended to earn full points. Please provide both in-text citations and post-text references. Do not bother claiming that you did not provide in-text citations and post-text references because everything came from your head. You are required to include textual evidence for your claims.
Discussion Prompt
Select one of the three prompts below to respond to in your initial post this week. You are encouraged to respond to peers that explored the prompts that you did not.
Prompt #1
Is it ethical for companies to require employees to take a polygraph test before they are hired or promoted? Would your answer be different if the company made products from a secret formula that competitors have so far been unsuccessful in imitating? What benefit do companies accrue if ethics is made a part of their corporate culture?
In resolving this dilemma, apply:
Utilitarianism
Deontology
Your own ethical reasoning on the issue
(USLOs 7.1, 7.2, 7.3)
Prompt #2
Sometimes liquor and tobacco companies create ads that link the consumption of its goods with popularity, love, friendship, and financial success.
Do you think this is ethical?
Would your answer change if the company engaged in some Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by occasionally publishing an ad that stressed the importance of consuming their product responsibly?
Be sure to include the perspectives of social contract theory and virtue ethics in your responses.
(USLOs 7.1, 7.2, 7.3)
Prompt #3
Opioid addiction continues to be a cause for national and global concern. Each year, hundreds of thousands wind up in the black market to be sold illegally. Some government organizations, such as a congressional crime committee, believe that pharmaceutical companies cannot be blamed if their products are used illegally.
Do pharmaceutical companies have any moral responsibility to ensure their products are not consumed illegitimately?
How would you recognize an ethical pharmaceutical company – what are its characteristics?
Which organization should be held morally culpable for solving this issue?
Be sure to include the perspectives of social contract theory and virtue ethics in your responses.
