BUU22580 Business Ethics 2025/26
(5 ECTS)
Lecturer:
Dr. Michael Markunas
Email: markunam@tcd.ie
Office Hours: TBD/by appointment
Available to Exchange students
Pre-Requisite:
BUU11540 - Fundamentals of Philosophy, Ethics and Social Science
Module Description:
This module considers the source and scope of our moral obligations in business. The first segment of the module involves the high-up questions of whether ethics belongs in the domain of business and what business is for. The second segment of the module considers whether firms themselves have moral responsibilities, the extent of those responsibilities, and whether we should hold them responsible. The third segment considers a variety of other ethical issues when engaging in business, from selling dubious products to whether it’s okay to invest in immoral companies and beyond.
Learning and Teaching Approach:
The approach taken involves students doing close readings of recent and innovative texts from a variety of subfields. This is coupled with detailed lectures for background context and distillation of the main ideas as well as time in class for students to become comfortable discussing these challenging ideas together. Papers and examinations offer students further opportunities to consider how these ideas interact and, ultimately, how they feel about them.
Learning Outcomes:
LO1: Become familiar with the essential theoretical approaches to business ethics and the role of the corporation in society.
LO2: Develop an understanding of the views concerning the extent of corporate obligations and the ethics related to other business practices such as paying, selling, buying and investing.
LO3: Develop critical thinking, reading, and writing skills on contemporary issues in business ethics.
LO4: Develop an ability to discuss challenging social and political issues productively with peers.
Workload
| Content | Indicative Number of Hours |
|---|---|
| Lecturing hours | 2 per week for 11 weeks |
| Preparation for lectures | 1 per week for 11 weeks |
| Individual assignments | 12 |
| Reading of assigned materials and active reflection on lecture and course content and linkage to personal experiences | 4 per week for 11 weeks |
| Final exam preparation | 8 |
| Total | 97 |
Required Textbooks:
Required core course textbook: There is no textbook required.
General Supplemental Readings: All readings will be provided through Blackboard.
Student Preparation for the Module
Students should read assigned reading before each class and consider how it connects with readings done before.
Course Communication
Please note that all course related email communication must be sent from your official TCD email address. Emails sent from other addresses will not be attended to.
Assessment:
Course participation (10%)
Quizzes (10%) – 3 short in classes quizzes to be completed at the start of lecture
Essay 1 (20%) due at the end of week 9
Essay 2 (20%) due at the end of week 14
Final Examination (40%)
Supplemental Assessment: Exam (100%)
REASSESSMENT
Students who fail the Final Examination will have an opportunity to take a further exam for reassessment. Similarly, students who fail one of the essays will have the opportunity to submit a make-up essay on a new topic by an agreed upon date.
Biographical Note
Dr. Markunas graduated with a PhD in Philosophy from University College London in 2024, following a Bachelors of Arts from the University of California Berkeley. Dr. Markunas has taught a wide range of modules at the undergraduate and postgraduate level, and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. His research ranges broadly across ethics, epistemology, artificial intelligence and the philosophy of mind and language. His work has been published in venues such as Synthese, Proceedings of the International Wittgenstein Symposium, The Institute of Philosophy and What to do about now?