Assignment:
Follow this link to NPR's series "The Plastic Tide." (https://www.npr.org/series/684530164/the-plastic-tide)There are several short stories included in this series, and most include the option to listen to the story as well as read. Choose a few stories to listen to and/or read concerning the continuing problem of plastics and our environment. Look for stories to which you can make connections with readings (and business ethics in general).
Compose a document answering the following questions:
1. Using main ideas from the Sagoff reading (values versus preferences, the problems of reasoning from the perspective of economic optimization, etc.) and one or more of the stories from The Plastic Tide, discuss the problem of plastics in our environment. For example, you could talk about grocery stores doing away with plastic bags and what that has to do (or does not have to do with) with economic optimality. You could talk about the cost of recycling and why (and/or how) this should be dealt with based on non-economic reasoning.
2. Using main ideas from the Singer reading (concern for nonhumans based on consideration of their interests rather than a speciesist cost-benefit analysis) and one or more of the stories from The Plastic Tide, discuss the problem of plastics in our environment as they affect nonhuman interests. For example, should we care about the sea life which is affected by plastic waste? What would Singer say, and how would he argue this? How does lack of recycling facilities affect nonhuman animals?
3. Finally, going back to the previous module, think about CSR(https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/problem-with-corporate-social-responsibility/) in the context of environmental issues. Does a CSR approach make sense when considering how to deal, both economically and politically, with current environmental problems? Should businesses take a strong stand on environmental issues? Should shareholders take a strong stand? Or is this something that should be controlled by government? How do you, personally, feel about businesses which try to act more sustainable? Do you trust that their efforts are sincere or even effective?
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is the idea that businesses owe some duties to multiple stakeholders (not only shareholders). A stakeholder is anyone who is affected in some way by the operation of a business; this would include shareholders, managers, employees, suppliers, customers, local communities, and possibly others as well. Corporate social responsibility is distinct from legislation designed to protect those impacted by business, and it is usually understood to be distinct from charity.
Environmental ethics is a relatively new discipline within applied ethics. From the business ethics perspective, environmental concerns include the continued production of plastics and other single-use products; industrialization and business's (and consumers') continued contribution to climate change; the production of waste and non-recyclable materials; the treatment of nonhumans in cost-benefit analysis; the role of business, consumers, citizens, and governments in addressing these issues; and so on.
Philosophically, ethically, in this module you will need to consider the following questions: Is economic optimality the right approach to evaluating environmental sustainability? What is the difference between consumers and citizens? When can we ethically pursue our own individual preferences, and when should we base our decisions on objective valuations? Do nonhumans have value in and of themselves, or are they only valuable insofar as we find them to be so? To what degree should our impact on nonhumans factor into economic, social, and ethical choices?
Readings:
1. A Business Ethics Reader
By Joanne B. Ciulla and Clancy Martin
2. Contemporary Issies in Business Ethics
By Joseph R. DesJardins and John J. McCall