General Directions: All students should participate in the discussions and the writing task as outlined on the course webpage for the Collaborative Writing Project. Contributions to the Threaded Discussion should be made on an on-going basis. DO NOT wait until the end of the discussion period to make your contribution. Waiting until the end is not fair to the other members of your team.

Guidelines for the Presentation:

1. Recount the facts of the case which bear upon the ethical issues which the case raises. This part should take no more than about 500-600 words, leaving the bulk of the report for the ethical analysis.

2. Identify clearly the ethical issues which are raised in the case. This can be done by merely making a numerical list, which acts as a kind of index for the paper.

3. Give a conceptual analysis (clarification) of the ethical issues which you have identified in the case. A conceptual analysis is more than just a dictionary definition of a term. It involves looking at the concept underlying the term and explaining its component elements. For example, a conceptual analysis of "dignity" would involve explaining where "dignity" comes from and what elements give us dignity so that we know that when we violate that element, we violate the person's "dignity."  

4. Identify the human (and other) values which are at stake in the case and explain (a) why they are significant for the case and (b) why their promotion is necessary if human beings are to flourish, i.e., realize their full capabilities. Human values are those important feature of our lives that we treasure, not just as individuals, but that we hold dear as fundamental for all of humanity. For example, some would say that "freedom" is a fundamental human value.

5. (a) Identify the ethical context (system) which seems relevant to the case as it actually occurred and then (b) explain which ethical context (system) might have been more useful in the ethical disposition of the case.

6. Identify and explain the ethical strengths and shortcomings in the case.

7. Identify and explain any conflicts of values, rights, duties, and principles which are present in the case.

8. Identify what ethical direction you would have taken in the case had you been the principal decision-maker.

9. Justify your ethical direction by identifying the ethical context (system) which you think would most appropriately deal with the situation and the ethical principles (formulating the principles as "One should . . .") which are needed to produce the desired direction. Explain why the context (system) and the principles make significant contributions in this analysis.

10. State three (3) policies (formulating them as "Company X will . . .") which could have been employed in the case and which, if followed, would have created a more positive ethical climate for the case. Give a brief explanation of why these policies are significant in this particular case. The formulation of the policies is important; the word "will" connotes a genuine commitment, while a word like "should" only indicates what one ought to do but it does not convey a dedicated intent to perform the action. Also policies should be general policies that would guide a cluster of similar cases. The policies should not be directed at the peculiar circumstances of any one particular case. 

11. References are helpful in such a project. However, the presentation and analysis is the most significant part of this report. Five references per report would be quite adequate.