PH425 Half Unit
Business and Organisational Ethics
This information is for the 2025/26 session.
Availability
This course is available on the CEMS Exchange, MBA Exchange, MSc in Philosophy and Public Policy, MSc in Philosophy of Economics and the Social Sciences and MSc in Philosophy of Science. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit. This course uses controlled access as part of the course selection process.
How to apply: Priority is given to Philosophy students during week one of course selection.
From Thursday 02 October available spaces will be allocated via a random ballot process with priority given to students with the course in their Programme Regulations.
Students will have to select their own seminar group after being offered a space.
For queries contact: Philosophy.Pg@lse.ac.uk
This course is capped at 32.
Course content
The first few weeks of the course will introduce you to some fundamental ideas concerning the broader moral obligation of business executives and government bureaucrats. Then, we will apply these ideas to a variety of problems that you may face during a career in business or government.
What responsibility do businesses have to society? Is it okay to lie, bribe, or exploit others if it’s good for your business? How should civil servants weigh the interests of different citizens? Is there anything that should never be bought or sold?
This course will not present you with a code of conduct, ready-made solutions or dogmatic answers. Instead, you will practice logical reasoning, careful analysis, and critical thinking to enable you to develop your own understanding of ethical problems. Through discussions, presentations, and essays you will also develop skills in argument and writing that will help you express your thoughts in a rigorous and convincing way.
Teaching
15 hours of seminars and 10 hours of lectures in the Autumn Term.
This course has a reading week in Week 6 of Autumn Term.
Formative assessment
There will be an optional essay assignment during the Autumn Term (word limit 1500 words).
Indicative reading
Milton Friedman (1970) "The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits", The New York Times Magazine.
Joseph Heath (2014) Morality, Competition, and the Firm: The Market Failures Approach to Business Ethics, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Sissela Bok (1999) Lying: Moral Choice in Public and Private Life. New York: Vintage Books.
Janet Radcliffe Richards (1996) “Nephrarious Goings On: Kidney Sales and Moral Arguments”, Journal of Medicine and Philosophy, 21:375-416.
Joseph Heath (2020) The Machinery of Government: Public Administration and the Liberal State, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Julia Driver (2009) “Normative Ethics”, in The Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Philosophy, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Christopher McMahon (1981) “Morality and the Invisible Hand”, Philosophy & Public Affairs, 10(3):247-277.
Benjamin Powell & Matt Zwolinski (2012) “The Ethical and Economic Case Against Sweatshop Labor: A Critical Assessment”, Journal of Business Ethics, 107(4):449-472.
Fared Zakaria & Lee Kuan Yew (1994) “Culture Is Destiny: A Conversation with Lee Kuan Yew”, Foreign Affairs, 73(2):109-126.
Charles Sherwood (2022) “A Lie Is a Lie: The Ethics of Lying in Business Negotiations”, Business Ethics Quarterly, 32(4):604-634.
Nikhil Venkatesh (2021) “Surveillance Capitalism: a Marx-inspired Account”, Philosophy 96(3):359-385.
Required readings amount to about two papers per week.
Assessment
Exam (70%), duration: 120 Minutes, reading time: 15 minutes in the Spring exam period
Continuous assessment (30%)
Key facts
Department: Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method
Course Study Period: Autumn Term
Unit value: Half unit
FHEQ Level: Level 7
CEFR Level: Null
Total students 2024/25: 15
Average class size 2024/25: 8
Controlled access 2024/25: NoCourse selection videos
Some departments have produced short videos to introduce their courses. Please refer to the course selection videos index page for further information.