Legal Environment Ethics Alan Davis CHINESE PROVERB: Tell me, Ill forget. Show me, I may remember.

But involve me and Ill understand. All students should come prepared to all classes, but, especially the assistants for today who are: Xi, Lindsay, Jinghan, Alicia, and Ryan. Chapter 5 home or! is "#e $% &:'' P( on )ri"a%* A#g#st +', ee the last page of the syllabus !posted on "lac#board$ for instructions as to how to sign%up for the on%line homewor#. &f you have procedural 'uestions about the homewor# contact (eter. &f you have legal 'uestions, see me. & don)t particularly li#e the homewor# platform, but, & am using it based on the feedbac# of (rofessor mith !it gets students to read the te*tboo#$ and (eter !it gets students to wor# together$ + both are good outcomes. -ENERAL CO((EN.: ,ne of the things that & learned in -ong .ong was the "ritish positive grading style, while Americans typically use a negative grading style. &n the "ritish model everybody starts with /ero and then we add points. &n the American model, everybody starts with 0112 and then we deduct points. -ence, & never ta#e off points, & only add points. o the student)s 'uestion should not be why did & lose points, but rather why did & fail to gain points3 ,n multiple%choice 'uestions it does not matter, we get the same result either way. -owever, on essay 'uestions or problems it places a greater burden on the student + thus, it is not a matter of finding something 4wrong5 with the answer, it is a matter of 6udging how good the answer is relative to others. Also, it reduces the sense of entitlement that some students seem to have. St#"% A"vice
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7orm a law te*tboo#.

club and meet every 8onday and 9ednesday. ;se the notes to prepare for class + using them as a guide to what to focus on in the
;se the notes as a feedbac# mechanism to identify areas where you are wea#er. ,f course, this is only useful if you wor# the notes ahead of time. hortly after class, flesh out the notes.

>uestions: &n class on ?hursday, & showed a video of two people trapped on an escalator. 9hat was the point of that video3 %predicament of their own ma#ing, need to be fle*ible in their thin#ing, loo#ing at the escalator to do the wor# for them &n class on ?hursday, & gave a mushroom analogy. @*plain. %biology teacher !hippie$ spent a large portion of class tal#ing about mushrooms, as a result the final had a large section on mushrooms, find your professors 4mushrooms5 &n class on ?hursday, & compared studying law to studying accounting, learning to play a musical instrument, learning to play a sport, or learning to spea# a foreign language. @*plain. %practice every day rather than for a long time once a wee#, you can)t learn soccer by reading a boo# %law manipulates words

According to the instructor, what was the single most important piece of advice that was given in class about how to study for this class3 9ould it wor# in other classes3 9hy is this method particularly applicable in this class3 %strategy, engaging in class, be mindful, focus, set goal for studying, form a Law study group

As a review of the syllabus, answer the following trueAfalse 'uestions: 0$ ?he probability that we will have an individual 'ui/ on any given class day is e*actly B12. ?R;@ :$ &f we have an individual 'ui/ B classes in a row, it is doubtful that we will have one on the si*th class day. 7AL @ <$ &f we have not had a 'ui/ for B classes, the probability that we will have a 'ui/ on the si*th class period is very high. 7AL @ =$ ?he probability that we have a 'ui/ on any given day is B12. 7AL @ B$ Alan believes that the best way to study is to wait until the night before a test and do a marathon study session. 7AL @ Remember % ,ne member of your group should e%mail (eter before 7riday, August <1 by B:11 (8 to let him #now the details of your group !see the details on the syllabus on "lac#board$. After that, (eter will randomly assign the remaining students to groups. 9e reserve the right to add students to e*isting groups if necessary or to brea# up groups in order to achieve two ob6ectives + have 0: groups and have every student in a group.

E.HICS Cow let us turn our attention to ethics + the neat thing about ethics is that there are no 4wrong5 answers only opinion. 8ost people would agree that ethics is very important, but can ethics be taught in a classroom3 &sn)t it true that people are either ethical or unethical3 Doesn)t a 4code of ethics5 suggest the lowest common denominator3 %you can share #nowledge, but you can)t force someone to live by certain 4ethical codes5 %some things are universally #nown to be wrong !murder, stealing etc.$ Regardless of your answers above, there are several different philosophical views of ethics. .HEOR/ 01 2 Overlap .heor% 3 law and morality are similar in that they both tell us what a$ to do and b$ what not to do + therefore, there is much overlap between law and morality + murder, stealing, brea#ing promises violates $oth moral an" legal codes + however, sometimes law and morality "o not overlap because: 0$ :$ ometimes the law is wrong and should be changed !segregated school systems$ ome things that are morally wrong cannot be enforced as a practical matter !adultery$ <$ ociety may not want legal enforcement of a personal moral issue !going to church or telling a 4little white lie5$ .HEOR/ 04 2 (oral s#$5ectivism6O$5ectivism: S#$5ectivists + believe that moral views are completely personal and hence cannot be disputed rationally by others (oral o$5ectivists + believe that there are certain perceptions which can be #nown and thus are able to say that others are wrong ,f course, most people are between these two e*tremes 7#estion 01: &s it ethical to lay people off in order to reduce costs and provide a cheaper product to consumers !and a higher return to investors$3 %loyalty to employees and their families, negative impact on community %ethical: cheaper product could be beneficial to society if it is needed, greater good for a greater number of people who can afford it %duty to employees, customers, and shareholders %it dependsDD

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.HEOR/ 0+ 2 8tilitarianism 3 ?hese are said to be ma*imi/ers + based on the wor# of two "ritish philosophers: Bentham 3 argued that the moral decision was to ma*imi/e the greatest pleasure over pain for everyone (ill 3 was similar but argued that we should ma*imi/e happiness over unhappiness 7#estion 04: -ow would a utilitarian answer 'uestion E03 %loo# at how many people would be laid off, how many customers would be affected %certain loyalty to :1 year wor#ers, loyalty to others you could be employing3 Pros an" cons o9 8tilitarianism: Pro 3 &t is a simple standard and everybody is treated the same. Con 3 -ow do we measure happiness3 ,r pain3 Also, do different people have different thresholds for both pain and happiness3 &f so, how do we factor this into the e'uation3

. o t%pes o9 #tilitarian:s: Act 8tilitarian 3 who wants us to ma*imi/e for each moral decision R#le #tilitarian 3 who wants us to adopt broad based rules for a broad number of moral decisions o the 'uestion is do we ma#e moral decisions on a case by case basis or do we set up broad guidelines3 %different people use different methods for different decisions .HEOR/ 0; 3 <eontological moralit% 3 believe that certain rules should be followed + the ?en Fommandments are an e*ample ?he basic premise of rights theory is that in all cultures there are certain universally agreed upon notions of human decency. ?herefore, this is primarily a deontological theory as the focus is on the acts themselves. ?his theory was best stated by &mmanuel .ant in the 0Gth century who said: 4Act only on that ma*im whereby at the same time you can will that it shall become a universal law.5

4Always act to treat humanity, whether in yourself or in others, as an end in itself, never merely as a means.5

Another proponent of this theory was John Rawls in a 0HI0 boo# called A Theory of ustice. &n it he argued that: @very person has an e'ual right to basic rights and liberties + he called this his greatest !"ual #iberty $rinci%le. ?his was modified by his difference %rinci%le & which basically provides that social ine'ualities are acceptable if and only if resolving them would ma#e the poorer classes worse off. A critic of Rawls was Robert Co/ic# who too# a libertarian view and basically argued that ine'uality of a result is acceptable as long as there was e'ual opportunity + an 4e'ual playing field5 + so, while Rawls favored a more activist government, Co/ic# favored a more minimalist government
7#estion: uppose that Xi is going to build a factory either in community A or community "

-ow would Rawls advise her to ma#e the decision3 %9ants everyone to half e'ual outcome, build factory where there is the highest unemployment rate 9hat advice would Co/ic# give3 % as long as both communities have e'ual opportunity to bid for the pro6ect, it is an 4e'ual playing field5 7#estion: uppose Lindsay is brilliant and has developed a cure for the common cold but is unable to get funding for it + while (eter is a dimwit but because of family connections is able to get funding for his cure for the common cold that is less effective than Lindsay)s3 %a cure is better than no cure 9hat if the cure was not for the common cold but for cancer3 P8.IN- I. ALL .O-E.HER 2 Fonsider the following 'uestions:

Jou are an outside director of a manufacturing company. ?he company has 0H,111 employees worldwide, including K,111 mostly manufacturing wor#ers in Fhina, B,111 mostly manufacturing wor#ers in 8e*ico, <,B11 manufacturing and 0,B11 white collar wor#ers in t. Louis where the company has its corporate head'uarters. ?he F@, has proposed to the "oard of Directors that they close its manufacturing facility in t. Louis and replace it with a larger facility in Lietnam. 9hat do you decide3 %if they don)t move and another company comes and runs them out of business anyway, then all the wor#ers are out of 6obs anyway %are the Lietnam wor#ers worth more than the t. Louis wor#ers3
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%the Lietnam wor#ers wont be losing anything, since they didn)t have it to begin with, the t. Louis wor#ers could possible lose their 6obs %short run vs. long run, they would need to train wor#ers in Lietnam, wereas the t. Louis wor#ers have the #nowledge and possibly loyalty to the company already

&f we use the utilitarianism theory, whose happiness should we ma*imi/e3 ?he people of t. Louis3 ?he people of Fhina3 ?he people of 8e*ico3 ?he people of Lietnam3 ,r should we ta#e a global view3 9hat are the arguments for and against ta#ing an5American view53

Jou are a consulting firm with <: employees and annual billings of M:H,111,111. ,ne of your ma6or clients, whom you bill an average of M<,111,111 annually has as#ed you to hire her grandson. Jou #now that the grandson has recently graduated from a top :1 business school with an 8"A. -e is <0 years old, has a solid academic record, and possesses the personal and professional s#ills to be successful as a consultant. Jou also #now, that he is a recovering cocaine addict, having struggled with the addition for five years prior to his attending business school. Jour firm has a strict%no drugs policy, which you usually interpret to e*clude those who previously abused drugs. 9hat do you decide3 %he is well%educated, struggled with the addiction prior to business school, however he graduated from one of the top business schools with a solid academic record meaning he had to wor# hard to get where he is today %& would hire him based on his performance and success in school %other applicants3 8ore 'ualified3

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@*plain the main point or ob6ect of those who use utilitarianism as an ethical theory3

:$ 9hat is the main point of difference between act and rule utilitarianism3

<$ -ow would a deontological !rights$ theory generally differ from utilitarian theory3

=$ 9hat is the main characteristic of being an ob6ectivist in regard moral rules3

B$ Nive three e*amples of people whose interests are served by sta#eholder theory3