A Team-Taught Course in Business Ethics & its Synthesizing Capstone Assignment

This article describes a course in Business Ethics, team-taught by a professor of philosophy and a professor of business administration. Written by the philosopher, it focuses on the philosophical materials of the course. It details the use of primary sources, but with a very practical aim: the extraction of a Moral Decision-Procedure, a step-by-step way of applying abstract philosophy to ethical issues in business. Three philosophical assignments are described, leading to the capstone assignment, which is designed to integrate the philosophical material of the course with the practice of business. The capstone assignment has the format of business problem analysis. Ethical issues are raised, and addressed, in language appropriate to business. However, in a series of footnotes keyed to those discussions, the ethical issues are examined more fully, with heavy reliance upon primary sources in philosophy.