Complex Organizations 227 - Is Business Moral?

Is engaging in business a moral activity? Is virtuous business activity that which is inherently virtuous or that which benefits society? Are there moral obligations surrounding how workers are treated? Is the ability of business to elevate our material standard of living a good thing? Through reading the Great Books of Western Civilization, we will look at what philosophers and novelists argued about business ethics starting with Athens and Jerusalem, proceeding through the English Financial Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, the Gilded Age, the Progressive Era, and into contemporary society. Authors will include Aquinas, Mandeville, Dickens, Thoreau, Dreiser, Shaw, and Wolfe.