Chris Macdonald, at his Business Ethics Blog, explores the ethics of the profit motive. The profit motive is often blamed for the unethical and illegal actions of businesspeople that we read about in the news every day. But does the profit motive necessarily lead to wrongdoing? And aren’t businesspeople, like everyone else, motivated by much more than just a desire to profit?
Jeffrey van Davis talks with Dr. Stephen Hicks about the inspirations for making his documentary Only A God Can Save Us, which explores Martin Heidegger’s involvement with the National Socialist movement. Mr. van Davis also discusses the process of making the film and its public reception. Parts I-IV are embedded below.
Martin Heidegger is considered by many to be the most profound thinker of the 20th century, and his philosophy continues to be influential.
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In May of 1933, Heidegger joined the Nazi Party and became the first Nazi Rector of a German university.
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Heidegger’s final words of despair in a famous Der Spiegel interview make it clear that he had no faith in democracy: “Only a God can save us.”
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The film Only A God Can Save Us is a critical view of Heidegger’s so-called “flirtation” with Nazism and examines the elements of his philosophy which may have led him to support the National Socialist revolution.
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Come watch highlights from the two-hour documentary film about this controversial philosopher and stay for a discussion panel featuring Jeffrey Van Davis, the film’s director, and Rockford College faculty members Stephen Hicks (Philosophy), David Sytsma (History), and Jules Gleicher (Political Science).
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Friday, March 4 from 3-5 p.m. in the CEE office in Burpee
Eduardo Marty is the Founder of Junior Achievement Argentina, an educational outreach program. Students in JA are taught how to prepare a business plan and raise funds. Approximately 50,000 students per year across Argentina participate. Marty has also held academic posts as professor at the University Francisco Marroquín, Guatemala, and the University of Buenos Aires. He was the host of Buenos Aires’s major television talk show Boom—Politics and Economics. We met with Mr. Marty in Buenos Aires to talk about his business education programs for young people and the state of entrepreneurship in South America.
. Kaizen:Where did you grow up in Argentina?
Marty: In Buenos Aires. I went to elementary and high school here and the University too.
Kaizen: Before university, what was your education like?
Marty: Well, I went to school called National Buenos Aires. That’s the oldest high school in Buenos Aires, created in 1770. It’s a public school, but it’s a very prestigious one. It was the first school in Buenos Aires. To enter, you need to pass a very tough test once you finish elementary school. From five students submitting and applying—they accept just one. Our education is divided into elementary school and then secondary school. When I was in sixth grade I tried to pass the exam and I did it, so I was one year younger than the rest.
The Jewish community attends that school a lot. It is a very intellectual community here in Buenos Aires. By the way, you know that after New York Buenos Aires has the second largest Jewish community in the hemisphere.
Professors Matt Flamm and Shawn Klein are heading this Spring’s Reading Group, which starts this Friday, January 28:
In The Birth of Tragedy (1872), Nietzsche analyzes artistic expression, focusing on Greek tragedy. In On the Genealogy of Morals (1887) Nietzsche traces out the “origin of our moral prejudices,” identifying “slave morality” (exemplified by Christian values) and its opposite, “master morality” (exemplified by Ancient Greek and Roman values).
Each meeting will take place at the Center for Ethics and Entrepreneurship office on the second floor of Burpee, from 3-4 pm. There will be light refreshments. A free copy of the book will be provided to participants. This group is open to all members of the college community.
Great news via Stephen Hicks’s website: the Department of Philosophy at Rockford College announced a new minor track in Ethics.
The core courses include several sponsored by CEE: Introduction to Ethics, Biomedical Ethics, Sports Ethics, Business and Economic Ethics, Ethics and Entrepreneurship, and Ethical Theory. The department will also offer occasional special topics courses with a strong value component that can count toward the minor.
Virginia Postrel, author of The Future and Its Enemies and The Substance of Style, writes on the importance of self-delusion in entrepreneurship. We all know that most businesses fail, but the entrepreneur is in part motivated by an irrational confidence that she will succeed. Successful entrepreneurs, says Postrel, “overestimated their chances of striking it rich. But they beat the odds — to everyone’s benefit. These ‘lucky fools’ create new sources of wealth, new jobs, new industries offering less-risky opportunities, and new technologies that improve life. Society plays the role of the casino, enjoying the spillover benefits from foolish bets.”
Professors Shawn Klein and Matt Flamm are conducting a new reading group this semester on Plato’s works on the trial and death of Socrates. From the flyer:
In 399 BCE, Athens executed Socrates for impiety and corrupting the youth. Plato immortalized the trial and death of Socrates in his dialogues: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, and Phaedo. These are not merely historical dialogues, but philosophical treatises that examine the nature of piety, philosophy, justice, and death. The Reading Group will discuss each of these dialogues and the philosophical issues they raise.
Each meeting will take place at the Center for Ethics and Entrepreneurship office on the second floor of Burpee, from 1-2pm. There will be light refreshments. A free copy of the book will be provided to participants.
Dates:
September 10: Overview and Introduction
September 17: Euthyphro
October 1: Apology
November 5: Crito
November 19: Phaedo
Introduction to Philosophy students were given the topic (Due April 14): What is independence, and is it a good thing? [Contest flyer pdf]
Business and Economic Ethics students were given the topic (Due April 18): What essential character traits and business skills lead individuals and organizations to succeed? [Contest flyer pdf]
