“The Management Myth”

From a recent article in The Atlantic:

Most of management theory is inane … If you want to succeed in business, don’t get an M.B.A. Study philosophy instead.

(HT: Brian Leiter via David de Bruijn)

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The Charlie Chan Case

As Dr. Vitz pointed out in a previous post, the National Ethics Bowl was held last Friday in Cincinnati Ohio. This was first case of the final round:

Charlie Chan is a fictional Chinese-Hawaiian detective, created by novelist Earl Derr Biggers. Biggers published six enormously successful Charlie Chan novels between 1925 and 1931. Two silent Charlie Chan movies were made in the 1920′s, followed by about four dozen more films, several radio programs, two television shows, and numerous comic book series over the next decades.

Critics call the portrayal of Chan by non-Asian actors in yellowface degrading. Chan‘s mangled singsong English and kitschy pseudo-Confucian aphorisms provoked ridicule: some older Asian Americans report that growing up they were mocked by Charlie Chan-inspired racial taunts. Chan’s sons’ flippant attitude toward their father’s methodical investigations undermined the traditional value of respect for elders. Critics charged that Chan‘s apparent subservience to whites and his failure to respond to racial slurs encouraged offensive treatment and the perception of inferiority of Asian Americans.

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CFP: Practical and Professional Ethics

The Association for Practical and Professional Ethics invites submissions from students for its 19th Annual Meeting (March 4-7, 2010):

Submissions are invited on ethical issues in various fields (e.g., public administration, law, the environment, accounting, engineering, computer science, research ethics, business, medicine, health care, journalism, higher education) and on issues that cut across professions. Special consideration will be given to topics that deal with ethical issues which cut across at least two disciplines or professions and are co-authored by persons from different disciplines.

The undergraduate submission deadline is October 30, 2009. The CFP and other details are available here.

For those interested, previous CFP announcements for other upcoming conferences are available here, here and here.

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Philosophy in Ireland

UNF’s Coggin College of Business is offering a study aboard program in international business ethics  which will partly take place over the summer in Ireland during summer B and C. (Travel is during summer B, and the actual class is during summer C at UNF.) For more information please click here.

This study abroad experience is aimed at business and philosophy majors interested in international business ethics. The objective is to provide students with concrete experiences of the ethical values involved and how they are addressed in the everyday practice of international business. In particular, students will reflect on how various moral quandaries in the practice of international business might be better addressed in the future. In the first half of the course, to be held at UNF, students will tackle both ethical and professional considerations involved in the execution of international business. This will include class work as well as visits to international businesses operating in northeastern Florida. In the second half of the course, to be held in Ireland, students will reflect with business persons, governmental and non-governmental officials, as well as citizens on the advantages and pitfalls of one of Europe’s most charged international economies….

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On Organs and the Mighty $$.

Last night, on the eve of Saint Valentine’s Day, I had the pleasure of attending a colloquium featuring the distinguished professor William LaFleur (University of Pennsylvania). He visited the University of North Florida and gave a guest lecture on the “Desires of the Dying: Japanese Qualms about the Bioethics of our Time”.

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International Business Ethics – Study Abroad in Ireland

A unique opportunity at the University of North Florida:

Philosophy students rarely have the opportunity to engage in study abroad opportunities that include travel to specific sites as well as meeting with real stakeholders outside of classrooms or lecture halls. Thus, UNF’s Summer, 2008 course on International Business Ethics is something special because it will allow philosophy majors and graduate students to intimately witness Ireland’s booming international economy as a case study. The costs of travel have been significantly mitigated by a generous grant from the BlueCross/BlueShield Center for Ethics, Public Policy and the Professions. For more information, contact Dr. Mitch Haney (UNF, Department of Philosophy) or see the course web page.

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