After learning about Catholic Social Teaching, apply chosen lessons to areas of Business Ethics we have covered so far (business and the good life, justice, social responsibility, technology, advertising and marketing, product liability, whistle-blowing, the environment, etc.)

Choose one topic within Business Ethics. Formulate three questions relevant to your topic using three different key principles of CST. Then  answer your own questions. An example (using the topic of honesty and trust in business) might be, “Can respect of human dignity be maintained if a business is not completely honest with its customers?”

Restrict your application and analysis to a maximum of three pages (typed, double-spaced). Aim for depth over length. Do not waste time with unnecessary introductory or concluding formalities. Instead, compose a succinct and penetrating analysis.

Recall from our unit on logic and critical thinking that we are subject to confirmation bias. This is the idea that we notice information that confirms our beliefs and we tend to ignore information that disconfirms them. We also read about Rapoport’s rules. When we evaluate arguments we try to give the strongest version of them we can. We could extend this idea that positions people hold. If we are interested in the truth, then we should consider the strongest argument we know of for that position. Together, Let’s evaluate the arguments for the existence of God that we have studied so far with confirmation bias and Rapoport’s rules in mind.

• Review confirmation bias
• Review rapoport’s rules
• Evaluate the Arguments for the Existence of God

For your initial post, identify the argument for the existence of God that you think is the strongest. Note: this is possible regardless of whether you are actually convinced by this argument or if you actually agree with the conclusion that God exists. Briefly explain why you think this is the best argument of those we have studied. This should take one or two paragraphs (100 words or more each). 

In addition, explain the objection that you think is the best objection AGAINST the argument for the existence of God that you selected above. Here we are trying to avoid confirmation bias by trying to falsify the best argument in favor of a position. This should be done in another one or two paragraphs (100 words or more each). This initial post is due Thursday, Mar. 30

Descartes is generally regarded as the first modern philosopher, and one of his innovations is to put epistemology at the center of modern philosophy’s concerns.   Whereas, for example, the pre-Socratic philosophers were most concerned with metaphysics (what is it that all things have in common?   How does one thing change into another thing?), Descartes believed that we must first determine what we can know before we can address any other questions.  In your discussions with each other this week, think about what it means to know something and especially what it means to be sure that you know (as opposed to simply believing something to be true).  Do you think Descartes provided an adequate response to the skeptic through his “method of doubt?”

Another important legacy of Descartes’ philosophy is that he argued for a sharp separation between the mind and the body.  This distinction is one than many people today take for granted (the mind or soul is distinct from the body) but few consider seriously the implications of this distinction (what contemporary philosophers call the “mind/body problem”).  For example, if the mind is a different kind of thing than the body, then how do the two interact?  If I make a mental decision to move my arm, then just exactly how does that cause my arm to move?  If I feel tired or sick, how exactly can that affect my ability to concentrate?

So, consider these issues, and of course feel free to raise any other issues you’d like.

Expound on the topic