Course Description & Learning Objectives

The primary objective of this course is to provide the blend of theoretical knowledge and practical acumen necessary to improve each participant’s skills in critical thinking and ethical reasoning. This four-week online course represents 12.5 hours of effort for each participant. The course is organized into nine one-hour segments totaling nine hours of instruction over three weeks. An assessment to test the participant’s understanding of the materials presented will be given at the end of each week and is expected to take the student approximately 30 minutes to complete. In the fourth week, and at the conclusion of the presentations, there will a 90-minute review session and a final assessment.

We will cover the areas of common logical fallacies, identification and avoidance of fallacious reasoning, philosophical approaches to morality and ethics, virtue ethics, utilitarianism, deontology, and stakeholder theory in organizational ethics. Each segment is closely tied to the academic literature in the areas of informal logic, critical thinking and reasoning, moral philosophy, business ethics, stakeholder theory, and ethics within organizations. Participants may, at any time, complete self-directed research and reading in these topics, in addition to the lectures, as a way to enhance the learning experience.

The instructor encourages participants to assemble in informal virtual teams to share the application of the course materials to current issues and challenges in their workplaces and to submit questions to the instructor using the Web-based message board for this class. The instructor will respond to questions in a timely and comprehensive manner.

Course Outline

1. Introduction: Critical Thinking and the Moral Point of View
2. Fallacies, Valid Reasoning, and Avoiding Logical Fallacies
3. Moral Reasoning: Virtue Ethics – “Be a Good Person”
4. Moral Reasoning: Utilitarianism – “Maximize Happiness”
5. Moral Reasoning: Deontology – “Do What Is Right”
6. Stakeholder Theory and Applications in Practice

Course Assessments

This course has a “pass/fail” format.

In order to determine if the participant has sufficient command of the materials and has met the learning objectives, assessments will be given at the completion of each week’s online class (e.g., lectures, slides, and other materials). In the event the participant does not pass any of the weekly assessments, he or she will have an opportunity to review the material and retake the assessment until a passing grade is achieved.

Week 4 is designed to provide a review of all the materials from the previous three weeks. The review session will utilize an audio-video presentation connecting the theory, instruction, and the learning objectives to the questions posed by participants. After the review session, participants will complete a final assessment.

Course Schedule

Week #	Session	Time (hrs)	Topic
Week 1	1	1.0	Introduction: Critical Thinking and Philosophical Ethics
	2	1.0	Introduction to Fallacies
	3	1.0	Identifying Fallacies in Argument
		0.5	Assessment
Week 2	4	1.0	Introduction to Philosophical Ethics: Virtue Ethics
	5	1.0	Philosophical Ethics: Utilitarianism
	6	1.0	Philosophical Ethics: Deontology
		0.5	Assessment
Week 3	7	1.0	Ethics in Organizations: Stakeholder Theory
	8	1.0	Cultural Relativism and Global Business
	9	1.0	Lying, Bribery, and Other Everyday Problems
		0.5	Assessment
Week 4	10	1.0	Review and wrap-up
	11	1.0	Final Assessment
Total:		12.5