Prepare: In your first post in this discussion, youwill identify and apply one ethical theory of your choosing to a currentproblem in business, also of your choosing. Start by reviewing yournotes on the Week 1 course material and your completed work for Week 1.Then, choose one of the three ethical theories—i.e., utilitarianism,deontology, or virtue ethics—on the basis of your thoughtfullyconsidered preference in general and independent of the business problemthat you will select here. Keep in mind that you will employ thisethical theory for supporting your position not only for thisdiscussion, but also for this week’s assignment and the Final Project.

To prepare for your selection of the current problem in business,look at the list of required articles and multimedia which are dividedin the six case-categories as follows:

• Banking (Lehman Brothers)
• Environment (BP)
• GMOs (Monsanto)
• Pharmaceuticals (Merck)
• Gender Discrimination (Goodyear)
• Factory Farms (Perdue) Choose the case-category that you find the most interesting and notethat each category also corresponds to one particular case. Pleasechoose carefully because your choice for this discussion will establishthe case that will be central to your argumentative essay this week aswell as your Final Project in Week 5. It is recommended that you leafthrough all the required resources indicated for the possiblecase-categories that you identify as possible contenders before makingyour final choice. Reflect: Once you have selected your ethical theoryand your case category, articulate the characteristics of the economicsystem (or combination of both systems) that serves as the setting forthe case presented in the case category sources. Given this context,examine how the nation’s laws affect the operations of the business.Next, identify the characteristics of your chosen ethical theory andits notion of the moral good. For the latter, you will need to reviewagain the PowerPoint that was introduced in Week 1, which is also listedin this week’s Required Resources and it is titled The Moral Good inThree Traditional Ethical Theories. Then, think how you would apply theethical theory to the specific problem presented in the case categorysources. Write: Start your post by (a) identifying the issueor problem that you want to address in the case that you have selectedand providing an impartial presentation of the controversy, (b)articulating briefly the characteristics of the economic system thatserves as the setting, and (c) examining the laws that affect theoperations of the business.The following illustration should help. Consider, for example, thecase of Uber that we examined in Week 2. If the California decisionestablishes a precedent for similar claims, then Uber would have to dobusiness as an employer and not merely as a service that pairs consumerswith ride sharing services by means of a unique phone app. Accordingly,the law would require Uber to reimburse its drivers for certain costsand perhaps offer benefits. Take in consideration, then, the legalsetting for the case that you have chosen. Does the case take place inthe United States or another country? What are the laws that arerelevant to the problem under examination? Keep in mind that all lawsare constraints on our actions, whether those by individuals orcorporations. The relevant laws, then, will be (a) any laws that presentnot only a constraint on the company’s operations, (b) any laws thatare being violated by the corporation, or (c) any laws that unfairlylimit the goods and services that can be offered to and are demanded byconsumers.In a second paragraph, formulate a sentence that presents the moralposition that you want to defend in regard to the issue or problemintroduced in the previous paragraph.In the same paragraph, present the ethical theory that you choose toemploy. Your choices are utilitarianism, deontology, and virtue ethics,and the necessary material is included in the required readings andmedia. Make sure to identify the characteristics of the ethical theory,and include in-text citations and full references in APA form at the endof the post. Once you have done this, apply the ethical theory to yourselected case by explaining how it lends itself to the moral positionthat you are defending.
  Requirements for Your Initial Post:
• Your initial post should be at least 400 words inlength and have citations and references in APA notation. It shouldaddress the prompt in its entirety. This means that you should not splityour response to the prompt in multiple posts. Your examination shouldbe both thorough and succinct. This is a combination that demands timeand thought, so give yourself sufficient time to draft and revise.
• Please be advised that until you post, you will not see what yourfellow students are posting. Once you submit your post, you will be ableto view the posts from your other classmates. You can then proceed toreply to at least two different threads based on the required materialfor this discussion.
• Your list of references for your initial post should include thevideos and the other required reading material pertaining to your chosensubject heading, as well as the ethics, economic, and law components ofWeeks 1 and 2, the Instructor Guidance, and any other announcementspresented to you by your professor. In addition, your references shouldinclude any other sources that you consult to inform yourself about yourchosen case category (but not Wikipedia or similar sources).
• Your initial post for this discussion should be submitted no later than the end of Thursday (11:59 pm, U.S. Mountain time).
  Hardy, J, Foster, C., & Zúñiga y Postigo, G. (2015). Section 9.1: The Argumentative Essay. In With good reason: A guide to critical thinking. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/
• Section 9.1: The Argumentative Essay is a section of Chapter 9 ofthe introductory course in logic textbook that is employed in the PHI103Informal Logic course offered at Ashford University. The link for thissource will take you to a PDF format of this chapter. Section 9.1introduces the thesis and premises in an argumentative essay, which areelements that students in this course must employ in both assignments inthis course.

Hardy, J, Foster, C., & Zúñiga y Postigo, G. (2015). Section 9.2: Strengthening the Argumentative Essay. In With good reason: A guide to critical thinking. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/

• Section 9.2: Strengthening the Argumentative Essay is a section ofChapter 9 of the introductory course in logic textbook that is employedin the PHI103 Informal Logic course offered at Ashford University. Thelink for this source will take you to a PDF format of this chapter. Forthe purposes of the work for this week, it will be necessary to readonly thesubsection called Clarification and Support. This subsectionexplains the kind of support needed in an argumentative essay for theclaims offered in its premises, which students in this course must knowin order to apply in discussions and both assignments.

Zúñiga y Postigo, G. (2015). The moral good in three traditional ethical theories [PowerPoint Slides].

• This PowerPoint document covers the main characteristics ofutilitarianism, deontology, and virtue ethics, and what is the moralgood in each of these.

• **** I want this to be about Gender Discrimination.*****