Argumentative paper of approximately 5 – 7 pages
double-spaced, standard margins, 12pt font. The paper will
count for approximately 20% of your grade. The format for
the paper is discussed in Appendix A below. The hard
copy of the paper is due in class; and an electronic copy
in Word format should be simultaneously uploaded to
Moodle.csun.edu (for Turnitin originality report) on the
due date. Late papers will get an automatic F, and will not be
accepted. There will be no exceptions. If you cannot submit
a hard copy in person, email your class partner to submit it for
you on the day it is due.
Paper topics must be relevant to business ethics (not
personal, professional, or social ethics). If you are unsure
about your topic you should check with me. I do not suggest
paper topics – it is your job, and the first step in writing the
paper. The required paper format is part of this syllabus
(Appendix A). Failure to follow the required format will result
in a C paper (at best).
Appendix A: the required format for the term paper.
Submit your paper on Moodle.csun.edu in .doc format, in
addition to submitting a hard copy in class. If you
submit an empty (or unreadable)document, or a paper
from another class, that will be an automatic 0. Be sure
you understand how to write, save and retrieve a
document on a computer before you continue with this
class. Basic computer skills are obviously needed.
Uploading files is almost exactly like attaching to an
email – it’s very simple. It’s the content of the paper that’s
supposed to be hard.
Each item in bold in this appendix (i.e.,the words Claim,
Explanation of the Claim, Reasons For/Against,
Rebuttals) should appear on your paper. The paper will be
discussed in class. If you miss this discussion, obtain notes
from your classmates. You should take your audience to be
an average reader, not your philosophy instructor.
The most important part about the paper is that it should
contain your original thoughts and arguments. In other
words, this is an analysis paper not a research paper. It is
easily ascertained when you have taken concepts, reasons,
and discussion from some other source. The only things
that you are allowed to research are the facts (which must
be documented). The following facts should be researched:
what countries permit bribery, what is defined as child labor,
what are applicable laws, what are the legal definitions of
discrimination, how many illegal aliens are working in the
country.
Claim:
A single well-worded declarative statement.
E.g., “Should American companies hire underage workers’ in
countries that legally permit it?” is NOT in declarative form,
and therefore is not a claim. Questions do not assert
anything.
The claim must have moral significance. For example, “Many
US companies hire underage workers in countries that legally
permit such hires” is a factual claim and does not have moral
significance.
“It is economically advantageous for US companies to hire
underage workers” is a pragmatic claim and doesn’t have
moral significance. On the other hand, “It is permissible for the US companies tohire underage workers in countries that legally permit suchhires.” does have moral significance. The claim mustto business ethics.
Common problems:
Vague claims; claims posed in the form of
a question; too broad or too narrow claims; non-moral claims;
more than one issue in the claim. Claims about abortion,
death penalty, assisted suicide, legitimacy of war, cloning,
religion, etc., are NOT relevant business ethics claims.
Explanation of the Claim:
You should explain very carefully
and in common-sense vocabulary what you mean by the
claim itself and by the terms involved in the claim. For
example, it is not immediately apparent what is meant by “US
companies should not hire underage workers in countries
where it is legally permissible.” I do not know (or pretend not
to know for the purposes of grading) what is meant by
“underage”, by “countries where it is legally permissible”.
Common problems: assuming that the terms your use are
self-explanatory. The reader of your paper will assume no
prior knowledge of your subject on his part, If your do not
explain your terms, concepts, relationships you will start
losing points. Arguing in the explanation part of the paper,
rather than explaining what you mean by your claim.
Reasons For the Claim:
Each reason for the claim should be
numbered with Arabic numerals (1), (2), (3), (4), (5). You
should provide at least four reasons for your claim. Each
reason must be unpacked in a whole paragraph. Each
reason must have moral significance.
Common problems: sketchy arguments; pragmatic rather thanmoral arguments; insufficiently developed arguments;
argument borrowed from other sources (even if documented);
arguments that appeal to psychological rather than moral
considerations, weak or not well-thought out arguments.
Reasons Against the Claim:
Here you step into the shoes of
your hypothetical opponent and think of reasons why your
claim doesn’t hold. Each reason against the claim should be
numbered with Roman numerals (I), (II), (III), (IV). You should
provide at least four reasons against your claim. Each reason
must be unpacked in a whole paragraph. Each reason must
have moral significance.
Common problems: same as above; attempting to rebut the
arguments presented in Reasons For the Claim – this belongs
to the Rebuttal section.
Decision:
At this point in the paper you must decide which
set of reasons (i.e., Reasons For or Reasons Against the
Claim) is a stronger set. You must explain why you think a
particular set of reasons is stronger. This part must be a full
paragraph rather than a couple of sentences.
Rebuttals:
At this point in the paper you must provide a
counterargument against each reason in the set of reasons
that you found to be weaker (in the Decision part of the
paper). For example, if you found Reasons For the Claim to
be a weaker set of reasons, you must counter-argue against
(1), (2), (3), (4). Conversely, if you found Reasons Against tobe a weaker set, you must counter-argue against (I), (II), (III),
(IV). Each counterargument must be unpacked in a whole
paragraph.
Not acceptable topics for the paper:
– Cultivation and sale of Cannabis
– Outsourcing (this will be discussed in class)
– Issues regarding athletics or sports
– Child labor
– Executive compensation
– Illegal immigration
– Testing on animals
– Tobacco
– Anything having to do with small business
– In general, anything that is prohibited by a relevant federal
law, such as bribery, monopoly, discrimination, etc
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