“The Normative Theories of Business Ethics: A Guide for the Perplexed”

Write an essay answering one of the two questions below.
• Your essay cannot be more than 1200 words. Essays exceeding the word limit, even by one
word, may have a penalty of up to 30% applied to their paper. (Word count excludes
citations only).
There is no single conventional citation format used in philosophy courses – any format is
fine so long as you are consistent, and with the following caveats: you must provide in-text or footnote citations, and those citations must include the number of the page of the text which you are citing

QUESTION 1 – Hasnas argues in “The Normative Theories of Business Ethics: A Guide for the Perplexed” that corporations have no social responsibilities aside from their fiduciary responsibility to their shareholders. What is his argument for this position, and is it successful? If not, why does it fail?
REQUIREMENTS:
• You must summarize Hasnas’ argument, and state whether you think the argument
succeeds or fails.
• If you think it fails, you must provide a critique of Hasnas’ argument. This critique may
take the form of explaining the position of another author in this course (such as Dodd, Freeman, or Heath), and explaining why it shows that Hasnas’ argument fails. Alternatively, it may take the form of a critique entirely of your own making.
• If you think it succeeds, you must provide an objection to Hasnas’ argument which Hasnas does not consider in his article. This objection can be taken from another author in this course (Such as Dodd, Freeman, or Heath) or potentially be an objection entirely of your own making. You must then reply to the objection, explaining why it fails to defeat Hasnas’ argument.

QUESTION 2 – Heath argues in chapter 7 of “Morality, Competition, and the Firm”, that efficiency is the implicit morality of the market, and that others who think the market is justified as a consequence of private rights are incorrect. What is his argument for these positions, and do these arguments succeed? If not, why do they fail?

REQUIREMENTS:
• You must summarize the arguments mentioned, and state whether you think they succeed or
fail.