Philosophy searches for reasons: it provides justifications or critiques for certain practices or policies, it asks about the big picture,  and it opens  a space of reflection that rejects fast answers. Business ethics can be seen as philosophical ethics applied to all economic activity. Ethics is often understood as the discipline that reflects on right or wrong, and helps us make these distinctions in a reasoned fashion. In a wider sense, though, it is a contemplation about the question: What is a good life? It also asks: good for whom? How does the individual good connect to the common good? What is the common good? from this point of view, ethics is closely related to political philosophy, because we cannot live a good life without a well-functioning society. Political philosophy has a rich history, and it addresses the ultimate questions: What is our humanity? How should we live together? How do we bridge the gaps between what should be and what is? 

Questions to think about

1. What is the relationship between values and facts? Are values absolute? What is the relationship between cultural differences and universal values? 

2. Are virtues teachable?

3. We are all unique, but we express our individuality through language that is common to all. What is the relationship between language and subjectivity? 

4. Is economy a science? What is a science, and what is knowledge? Is it a cultural production, or is it based on objective and verifiable facts?

5. Two ancient Greek philosophers, Heraclitus and Parmenides, had opposing views on the possibility of change.  Parmenides: Nothing ever changes, and Herclitus: Everything always changes. You cannot step into the same river twice.  Is our research-driven economic system creating new things? How much change does it really produce?