PrepTest 121, Section 1, Question 16
Most business ethics courses and textbooks confine themselves(42 more words not shown)
Which one of the following,(9 more words not shown)
- AA moralizing approach(14 more words not shown)
- BCourses that concentrate(11 more words not shown)
- CPeople have no(13 more words not shown)
- DAbstract ethical theory(11 more words not shown)
- EAn ethics course(13 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
What does abstract ethical theory add? If the current classes don't give students a framework for understanding ethical principles, we need to know how the proposed addition fixes that problem.
The classes already cover particular rules and cases. Students might discuss a rule about treating people respectfully or act out a negotiation. The author's criticism isn't that no principles are taught. It's that the students lack a framework for understanding those principles. Then the author recommends abstract theory without explaining what makes that the remedy.
What we’re looking for
Could students gain that understanding another way? And how important is it to provide this framework in the first place? Those are questions worth asking before deciding what belongs in the course. For a principle that helps justify the recommendation, I'd especially like a connection between abstract theory and understanding the specific principles. Saying theory is the only way to understand them would be strong support, though a strengthener needn't go that far.
Working the answers
- A
We haven't been told that the current approach ignores the diversity of ethical rules. More importantly, condemning an approach that does ignore diversity doesn't show why adding abstract theory would supply the missing framework. The answer introduces a different possible criticism without connecting our problem to the proposed change.
- B
The author isn't asking us to eliminate role-playing because students take on unfamiliar identities. The recommendation is to add material that helps them understand principles. Role-playing could remain part of the revised course. A separate complaint about that activity doesn't explain the value of the proposed addition.
- C
This concerns when people have an obligation to behave ethically. Our argument concerns how students should be taught to understand ethical principles. Even if C were true, we'd still need a connection between studying abstract theory and gaining the understanding the author says is missing.
- DCorrect
Abstract theory provides the most appropriate context for understanding specific principles. That directly connects the proposed addition with the course's identified shortcoming. If we want students to understand those principles, adding this context has a clear point. D doesn't say theory is the only possible route, as my stronger prediction suggested; being the most appropriate context is enough to support the recommendation.
- E
This supports teaching a range of principles and their applications. But the existing courses might already cover a wide range. Their stated shortcoming is the missing framework, not a small number of examples. E doesn't tell us that abstract theory supplies that framework or is needed to achieve the coverage it recommends.
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