Directions:

You are to write two (2) essays selected from the four (4) essays below.. The essays (each essay) should be about one to one and one-half (1-1/12) pages in length (about 300-500 words), typed double-spaced in MS Word. [SUBMISSION SHOULD BE BY E-MAIL ATTACHMENT  AND NOT BY INCORPORATING YOUR ANSWER INTO AN E-MAIL MESSAGE: <Lawrence.Ulrich@notes.udayton.edu>] You are to (1) recount what the authors you have read on the topic have said, (2) try to relate ideas with each other, and (3) state your own reactions/reflections about the issues under exploration. Please be clear about where your opinion begins. You should not merely state an opinion but give carefully considered reasons for your opinions. Remember that this is a philosophy course and the reasons, which you develop and organize to support your opinions, will be more important than the opinions themselves. Ultimately you should demonstrate that you (1) have read the text(s), (2) are familiar with the ideas, (3) have thought about them carefully, and (4) have been able to formulate soundly based opinions as a result of the reading you have done.

1. So, you have read all about Martha Stewart in the last couple of years. We know that she was found guilty only of lying. But do you think that she was also guilty of insider trading? What is insider trading anyway and how can we know when a trade is of the "insider" variety? And what is so wrong with insider trading anyway?

2. Look at the story of Ted Beatty in Week 7 of your Reading Assignments webpage. Consider the issue of whistleblowing from the vantage points of integrity, loyalty, and strategies. How does whistle blowing challenge all three of these notions? What does Michael Martin (MM p. 379) suggest as appropriate strategies for whistleblowing. Could you be a whistleblower? Why?

3. In Week 5 of your Reading Assignments webpage you have some articles about Richard Grasso of the NYSE and Lee Raymond of Exxon and their ""rather plump" pay and retirement compensation packages. Put aside your own greed for a moment and assess the propriety of compensation packages of this kind for CEOs. Granted there may be nothing illegal about them (Spitzer would differ with this in Grasso's case) do you think there is anything unethical about them? Give your assessment using the ethical systems and principles we have discussed in this course and any other tools you might find useful.

4. How about that job security for which you are all wishing? [Did you notice that I did not end that question with a preposition???] In Week 8 of your Reading Assignments webpage you will find some reading on job security and cutting retirees' benefits. Reflect on this matter for a few minutes, particularly on the matter of cutting retiree benefits. Think of me sitting out here in Palm Springs where the daytime temperatures range from 75 in the winter to 120 degrees in the summer (dry heat? HA!) What would you think if UD decided to cut my slim retiree benefits? [Remember you are getting a grade for this answer.] Seriously, give an ethical appraisal of corporations cutting retiree benefits using the ethical systems and principles we have discussed in this course. And how might loyalty fit in with these reflections?