Philosophy
A letter to Marketplace made an interesting point. This economic meltdown was the result of the actions of businesspeople at a time when more people have M.B.A.'s than at any time in history. The letter-writer was bemoaning the fact that the graduate education should have kept people from engaging in risky behavior and in unethical behavior, yet this did not happen.
I gave a paper a few years ago at a meeting of the Society of Business Ethics on Aristotle and the nature of corporate moral responsibility. The session before mine had a bunch of heavy-hitters in the world of business ethics and considered whether business ethics had a place in M.B.A. programs at all. They generally contended that their colleagues who study applied psychology and sociology considered their work too mushy to be taken seriously. The question was whether to accept this and work outside of the community or try to fight it in some way. Regardless of the answer, it seems to say that those with M.B.A.'s would be given a certain attitude towards ethical questions -- whether they are given coursework in it or not.
Is the education attached to the M.B.A. irrelevant to the goings on in the marketplace? Could it have been a contributing factor?
- Is Governance A Subfield Of Ethics?
Machiavelli's The Prince was a watershed work. Before it, discussions of governance were considered to be governed by the rules of ethics, that the way one should govern was completely determined by how one should act. Machiavelli made it a pragmatic...
- David Brooks: Philosophical Mohel
So David Brooks has been getting a lot of well deserved flack for his latest column in the New York Times proclaiming the end of philosophy (see, e.g. JCasey, Helmut and Hilzoy) David Brooks has discovered social psychology. When making moral judgments,...
- Why Are Bad Words Bad?
So, apparently I am the Lenny Bruce of the Central Pennsylvania Planners Association. Certified planners -- city planners, zoning officials, land use managers -- have a mandated requirement for continuing education to remain in good standing and they...
- Nice "work" If You Can Get It
So, looking at the 2008 White House Office Staff Salary List, there are four "Ethics Advisors": George, Allison Carr $130,694 Green, Marcella Moira $107,836 Sarkany, Sergio Francisco $86,279 Molinaro, Rachel E $58,206 None of whom seem...
- When Is Good Enough, Good Enough?
The deep questions are often not the technical, complex ones, but the simple ones that challenge the technical complex answers that arose from earlier "simple" questions. In grad school, I was very lucky to study ethics with Susan Wolf, a philosopher...
Philosophy
M.B.A.'s and the Meltdown
A letter to Marketplace made an interesting point. This economic meltdown was the result of the actions of businesspeople at a time when more people have M.B.A.'s than at any time in history. The letter-writer was bemoaning the fact that the graduate education should have kept people from engaging in risky behavior and in unethical behavior, yet this did not happen.
I gave a paper a few years ago at a meeting of the Society of Business Ethics on Aristotle and the nature of corporate moral responsibility. The session before mine had a bunch of heavy-hitters in the world of business ethics and considered whether business ethics had a place in M.B.A. programs at all. They generally contended that their colleagues who study applied psychology and sociology considered their work too mushy to be taken seriously. The question was whether to accept this and work outside of the community or try to fight it in some way. Regardless of the answer, it seems to say that those with M.B.A.'s would be given a certain attitude towards ethical questions -- whether they are given coursework in it or not.
Is the education attached to the M.B.A. irrelevant to the goings on in the marketplace? Could it have been a contributing factor?
- Is Governance A Subfield Of Ethics?
Machiavelli's The Prince was a watershed work. Before it, discussions of governance were considered to be governed by the rules of ethics, that the way one should govern was completely determined by how one should act. Machiavelli made it a pragmatic...
- David Brooks: Philosophical Mohel
So David Brooks has been getting a lot of well deserved flack for his latest column in the New York Times proclaiming the end of philosophy (see, e.g. JCasey, Helmut and Hilzoy) David Brooks has discovered social psychology. When making moral judgments,...
- Why Are Bad Words Bad?
So, apparently I am the Lenny Bruce of the Central Pennsylvania Planners Association. Certified planners -- city planners, zoning officials, land use managers -- have a mandated requirement for continuing education to remain in good standing and they...
- Nice "work" If You Can Get It
So, looking at the 2008 White House Office Staff Salary List, there are four "Ethics Advisors": George, Allison Carr $130,694 Green, Marcella Moira $107,836 Sarkany, Sergio Francisco $86,279 Molinaro, Rachel E $58,206 None of whom seem...
- When Is Good Enough, Good Enough?
The deep questions are often not the technical, complex ones, but the simple ones that challenge the technical complex answers that arose from earlier "simple" questions. In grad school, I was very lucky to study ethics with Susan Wolf, a philosopher...