The editors of the business ethics journal review hope that bejr provides good examples of how to write a critical essay. Each of the commentaries we publish is a short critical essay aimed at a single paper published in another scholarly journal. In each of the responses we publish, the author whose work was critiqued in one of our commentaries gets a chance to defend or clarify his or her thinking. If you read a commentary and response, you will see accomplished scholars professors and occasionally phd students in the field of business ethics applying their expertise. And remember: such scholars got to where they are today not just by being smart, and by knowing a lot about business ethics, but by being good at writing clearly and convincingly. you can learn a lot from them! here is some advice for writing critical essays, in business ethics but also in other fields.

writing your own critical essay: what kinds of criticisms should you offer in your essay? there are a nearly infinite number of errors or problems that you might spot in an essay or book that you want to critique. Here are a few common ones to look for, to get you started: point out one or more logical fallacies. Has the author presented a false analogy or a hasty generalization ? critique the scope of the authors claim. For example, does the author claim that his or her conclusion applies to all cases, rather than just to the small number of cases he or she has actually argued for? point out unjustified assumptions. Has the author made questionable assumptions about some matter of fact, without providing evidence? alternatively, has the author assumed that readers share some questionable ethical starting point, perhaps a belief in a particular debatable principle? point out internal contradictions.

Does the author say two things that, perhaps subtly, contradict each other? point out undesirable implications / consequences. Does the authors position imply, perhaps accidentally, some further conclusion that the author or audience is unlikely to want to accept, upon reflection? in general, a good critical essay should: describe and explain in neutral terms the article or book being critiqued. Before you start offering criticism, you should demonstrate that you understand the point of view you are critiquing. be modest. your goal should be to offer some insight, rather than to win a debate.

Rather than to show that smith is wrong or prove that sens view is incorrect, you should set your aims on some more reasonable goal, such as casting doubt on the view you are critiquing, or suggesting reason why so and so should modify her view. Rather, it is about giving the other side what you owe them, namely a fair reading. Rather, the goal is to make her sound smart, but then to make yourself sound smart, too, but showing how her view could be improved. Remember: a critical essay is not just a bunch of ideas it is an orderly attempt to convince someone in most cases, your professor of a particular point of view. For example, make sure your opening paragraph acts as a roadmap for what follows telling the reader where youre going and how you propose to get there. Make sure each paragraph in the body of your essay has a main point a point connected to the goal of your essay! and that its point is clearly explained. be clear. that means not just that your essay should be clearly structured, but also that each sentence should be clear.

Proof reading is important: get someone with good writing skills to proof read your essay for you. If you cant do that before your deadline, you can proof read your essay yourself by reading it out loud. But whatever you do, make sure to give credit to the people whose ideas you use, if you want to avoid being charged with plagiarism. use what youve learned in class. your professor would love nothing more than to know that youve been paying attention. So try to make use of some of the concepts discussed in class, or in your course textbook.

Trying to sound like an author just leads people to use big words they dont understand and to write complex sentences that overshoot their grammatical skills. Just write it more or less the way you would say it out loud, in short, clear sentences. follow instructions. failing to follow instructions is easily the most common way students screw up when writing critical essays.

Read the assignment instructions through carefully twice! and then if anything is unclear, ask your professor for clarification. 160 paper assignment, business and consumer ethics, spring 2009 the paper should be 5 7 pages double space, typewritten and explore the ethical and/or philosophical dimensions of an issue in business and consumer ethics. The paper counts for 34% of your course grade and so it should be a significant effort. You are required to use in some fashion one philosophical article that we have not read in class.

You may write on any topic you choose as long as it is a topic in business and consumer ethics, relates to the course in some way, and uses an outside philosophical article. you can choose an issue we discuss during the semester or some other topic that interests you. Dont ignore topics from material we will discuss in the later parts of the course if one of those topics interests you, read ahead and see if you want to write on it. the paper is due on friday, april 11, 1pm, 1 st floor mailbox inside 14 glebe street. staple the paper description with my comments to the back of the final paper, and keep an extra copy of the final paper for yourself.

160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 this paper should be a philosophy paper in which you focus on evaluative issues e.g. Should businesses be required to go beyond the law and act ethically even if it involves loss of profits? should managers respect employee privacy? , or conceptual issues what counts as deceptive advertising? what is privacy and what sorts of things compromise it? . The focus should be on providing reasons, arguments, and evidence for your claims. Ask: what is the right policy or action and then explain why you think this. 2. 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 tie your paper into the course in some way. the paper must show that it was written by someone who took this course. in particular, if an assigned article has bearing on your topic, you must discuss what it says about it and your response.

160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 at least one outside not assigned in the course philosophical reading is required for this paper. The simplest way to find such an article is to use a philosophical article from our text that has not been assigned for the course. I suggest looking for articles in the following journals: the journal of business ethics, business ethics. Business and professional ethics journal, business and society review. you can also use the reference in the library reference section called philosophers index which lists by subject, title, and author most philosophical articles that have been published. although i want you to find and use an outside philosophical article, don't get bogged down on this dimension of the paper. The paper should focus on your own ideas the outside reading is meant only to help stimulate your own thinking.

Possible paper topics for business ethics papers are not limited to these topics! shape the topic in your own way. 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 most of the class readings on which students have given oral presentations provide good issues that could be turned into paper topics. 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 look at the material under miscellaneous on the class web page for ideas. 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 one place to look for possible paper ideas is randy cohen, new york times the ethicist 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 a. 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 google randy cohen the ethicist or try the link below 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 b. 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 for a paper on ethical issues concerning hazardous waste in globalized business see dangerous trade: industrialized hazards in a globalized world 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 a. 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 for paper ideas pertaining to business and climate change google the following call for papers for a conference on climate change: challenging business, transforming politics 6.

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