Interview Paper

Each student will interview a work colleague, superior, friend or acquaintance about ethics in the workplace.  Alternatively, the student may describe a situation that they experienced.  The interview subject will tell the student about an ethical issue the subject confronted on the job.  The student should briefly (1 paragraph) describe the situation.  The student should also describe the alternative solutions the subject considered, as well as the action they actually took (including taking no action) and why.  Finally, the student should submit his or her own analysis of the situation and should argue for a particular outcome, using either Utilitarianism or Kantian Ethics.  There is a description of what is expected of the ethical analysis attached to this syllabus.  Each student will submit a written report (2 – 5 pages).  The subject may remain anonymous, as may the company the subject works for.  However, the student should describe the general industry (oil field services, a bar, a restaurant, a health care clinic etc.) and the subject’s relative position in the company (a first-level employee, a manager, middle-management, executive etc.).  Any information that is provided from a source other than the interviewee needs to be properly referenced.  If a paper needs citations that have not been provided, the paper will lose 5 points from the grade and will have to be corrected and re-submitted to the instructor.  The paper will be submitted for grading via Blackboard (assignments section) by Friday July 31, 2020 at 11:55 pm.  

Paper Guidelines

Guidelines for what is expected in a Kantian or Utilitarian Analysis are attached to this syllabus.  A Utilitarian Analysis without a spreadsheet (or a Word table, does not have to be Excel) or a Kantian Analysis without a consideration of Universalizability and Reversibility will lose points.