Course purpose

• To acquaint students with the basics of understanding of culture, ethics and business ethics and train them for independent ethical decision-making and theoretical research of ethics.

Content (Syllabus outline)

• Introduction: the purpose of the subject and overview of the topics. The importance of a historical-critical approach to ethics. Clarification of basic concepts and categories: ethics, business ethics, culture, business world.
• Clarification of culture: origin, manifestations - especially values, levels, research of value orientations, intercultural contacts.
• Clarification of the origin of ethics: the historical context (fundamentals in the Antiquity -Plato, Aristotle), the political context.
• The end of ancient ethics and the emergence of morality in Jewish-Christian tradition. The role of the Bible in the formation of moral categories. Jewish-Christian understanding of basic ethical categories: goodness, justice, freedom ... Understanding the business world in Jewish-Christian tradition.
• The role of Protestantism in the creation of the modern business world and the emergence of new, Protestant ethics.
• The moral context of the emergence of modern economics: Adam Smith as a moral philosopher and the "father" of modern economics. The relocation of some essential ethical elements, for example: justice and selfishness.
• Kant's ethics of duty.
• The role of management in shaping the business world: the ethical aspects of managerial theories from Taylor to Drucker.
• Practical aspects of business ethics; case studies.
• Values of individual and values of organisation.
• Values and interests of different stakeholders in the organisation.
• Social responsibility of the company, including dilemmas of dismissal of employees.