Email Privacy

Here are some links on email privacy.

• Legally speaking, are workers entitled to email privacy? Not really.
• But wait: there's a recent court ruling on employee text messages that could start changing things. (Thank Mama Landis for that link!)
• Here's the interview on the radio show I used to work for with the ESPN employee who was fired after ESPN monitored his emails.

As always, feel free to email me. I promise to keep our correspondence confidential.

Paper Guidelines

Due Date: The beginning of class on Monday, December 15th, 2008

Worth: 15% of your overall grade

Logistics: Write an argumentative essay on one of the topics below. Papers must be typed, and must be between 600-1200 words long. Provide a word count on the first page of the paper. (Most programs like Microsoft Word & WordPerfect have automatic word counts.)

Assignment: Explain and evaluate a pair of articles from our textbook that we do not go over in class.

• First, briefly explain each main argument in the two articles you read. (Choose pairs from those listed below.)
• Then, evaluate each argument. Are the premises true, false, or questionable? Is the structure good or bad? Consider criticisms to each argument, along with responses to these criticisms.
• Finally, explain and defend your opinion on the issue. Which side—if either—do you think is correct? Why? Be sure to defend each of your opinion with reasons.
  

Topics (readings and page numbers from our textbook)
1. Can restructuring a corporation’s rules make a moral difference?
-Josef Wieland (25-37) and Ian Maitland (38-53).

2. Is it a mistake to urge corporate managers to be moral?
-John Boatright (74-81) and Jack Guynn (82-90)

2. Is privatizing Social Security good business?
-David Altig & Jagadeesh Gokhale (94-112) and Thomas Bethell (113-119)

3. Should the states regulate appropriate business behavior?
-Eliot Spitzer (122-131) and Alan Yuspeh (132-142)

4. Is “employment-at-will” good social policy?
-Richard Epstein (221-226) and John McCall (227-244)

5. Is direct-to-consumer advertising of pharmaceuticals bad for our health?
-Sidney Wolfe (281-285) and Alan Holmer (286-290)

6. Should we require labeling for genetically modified food?
-Philip Bereano (322-328) and Joseph Levitt (329-338)

7. Are multinational corporations free from moral obligation?
-Manuel Velasquez (342-347) and John Fleming (348-351)

8. Should patenting life be forbidden?
-Jeremy Rifken (354-359) and William Domnarski (360-364)

9. Do environmental restrictions violate basic economic freedoms?
-John Shanahan (368-377) and Paul Ehrlich & Anne Ehrlich (378-386)

10. Is bottling water a good solution to problems of water purity and availability?
-Julie Stauffer (389-392) and Brian Howard (393-405)

11. Should the world continue to rely on oil as a major source of energy?
-Red Cavaney (408-411) and Howard Kunstler (412-417)

The Banality of Evil

Here are some links related to our discussion about the documentary we watched in class:

• Hannah Arendt's thesis about the banality of evil.
• More on Hannah Arendt.

Also, here are some deleted scenes from a recent episode of "The Office" titled "Business Ethics." You can watch the entire episode online.

"The Corporation"

The two-part movie below is "The Corporation," the documentary we're watching in class.



So what did you think of the movie?