After considering the relations between morality and both personal and social norms, Shaw introduces us to the topic of moral reasoning. Central to this account is the notion of an argument. In the hands of a philosopher the concept of an argument means something very specific and admittedly different from how we most commonly use it (it is not a dispute between two or more people). Starting with non moral examples Shaw lays out some of the crucial components of philosophical argumentation including the concepts of premises, conclusions, validity and invalidity, soundness and unsoundness, and counter examples. Your discussion topic assignment this week is to post two original arguments, one moral, the other non moral (importantly distinct from amoral examples), thereby demonstrating what makes an argument a moral one, and to post at least one complete counter argument to the post of one of your colleagues. Make sure to formulate your original arguments and your counter arguments using explicit premises and conclusions as demonstrated in the text.

Textbook Business Ethics, William Shaw, seventh edition, Thomson Wadsworth Publishing 2010