What happens to the concept of loyalty between worker and employer if we move to a mostly gig economy? Will that result be negative or positive? For whom, and why?

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CASES FROM THE REAL WORLD
Gig Work Have you ever been a gig worker? A recent study found that 37 percent of U.S. workers participate in the gig economy, and government and other estimates say 40 percent will be working outside traditional full-time jobs by 2020. Clearly the gig economy is not a fad. The issue is often whether it benefits only the company or also the worker. Do people actually like being gig workers, or has the economy forced them into it, sometimes by taking second and third jobs? A national survey by the Freelancers Union found that two in three of the 55 million U.S. workers who freelanced in 2016 did so because they wanted to, not because they were forced to; the other one-third did it out of necessity.7° Although motivations for gig work may vary, it is clear that employers are benefitting. Of course, part-time contract workers are not new. What is new is the way gig work has spread to many white-collar professions. Here are two examples. Joseph creates websites for a marketing company and a digital content studio. He also creates and edits motion graphics. “It’s been a fun ride, tiring but fun,” he says. “Finding time is always the struggle. I’m working on a freelance project every weekend.” Joseph thinks gig work has helped him improve his graphic skills faster than he might have done in a traditional job. “I get to move around to different companies, and if one thing falls out, I still have other things I can fall back on—and it keeps me sharp.” Nicole, a mother of three, is a full-time clerk at a law firm, but she decided she needed extra money and signed up with a work-at-home call center. Her husband has joined too. Nicole says her gig job is one she could continue when she retires, and she likes that possibility. 71 “This is the future of work,” says Diane Mulcahy, a private equities investor whose clients often benefit financially from the use of gig workers. The full-time employee is getting to be the worker of last resort.”77

Critical Thinking

  • Aside from the lack of benefits, what are the potentially negative effects for society of the gig economy?
  • What happens to the concept of loyalty between worker and employer if we move to a mostly gig economy? Will that result be negative or positive? For whom, and why?

Articulate your behavior management philosophy by creating a presentation on your beliefs and practices for addressing whole class and individual behavior management in your current or preferred classroom environment.

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Behavior Management Philosophy Presentation

Articulate your behavior management philosophy by creating a presentation on your beliefs and practices for addressing whole class and individual behavior management in your current or preferred classroom environment. The presentation should be designed for an audience of a recently assigned co-teacher or paraprofessional who will be collaborating with you in your classroom.

What is the cosmic question Nagel is interested in? What is non-teleological evolutionary naturalism? In what way does Nagel suggest we might try to fashion it into a response to the cosmic question?

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Descartes, Spinoza and Nagel

1st essay prompt: Non-Teleological Evolutionary Naturalism

  1. What is the cosmic question Nagel is interested in? State the question using a quote from Nagel and then explain the quote.
  2. What is non-teleological evolutionary naturalism? In what way does Nagel suggest we might try to fashion it into a response to the cosmic question?
  3. Why does Nagel think the answer provided by non-teleological naturalism will be ultimately unsatisfying?
  4. Is he right? Argue for a position.

2nd essay prompt: The Cosmic Question

How would Descartes respond to the cosmic question? Spinoza? Hurston? Christina? Connect each philosopher to a type of response identified by Nagel (either the religious response, the dismissive response, existential despair, existential defiance, humanism, non-teleological evolutionary naturalism, or teleological evolutionary naturalism). For each of these four thinkers, say (a) what, according to Nagel, characterizes the type of response they are most likely to give (in other words, define the response as we did in class), and (b) what about the views of the thinker in question suggests they might give that type of response (in other words, give specific details about the thinker’s view that align with that type of response).

Write a sentence (or two) in which you explain what is the new and terrible evil hidden in the proclamation.  What evil does the proclamation send to the two sisters?  What does it attempt to force them to do or not to do?  What exactly is the evil they are now faced with?

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Reading worksheet

Question 1.  In a single complete sentence please tell me what the word “it” refers to in the line “I knew it well.”  What did Antigone know well?  What is the “it” referencing?

HINT: The word “it” is a pronoun.  Like the word says, a pro-noun, stands in for a noun.  In other words, “it” refers to some “thing” (a noun names a person, place, or thing) already mentioned and named.  To find out the reference of any pronoun you need to go backwards in the text to find the prior reference. 

 In order to understand what the word “it” refers to you, need to understand what Ismene is referring to when she says “Not a word . . .” at line 11. 

 The “it” in line 18 refers back to the same thing Ismene is referencing when in response to Antigone’s question, Ismene says: I haven’t heard a word about whatever you are referring to. 

 So, to know what “it” in line 18 refers to you must figure out what it is that Ismene has not heard a word about.  (Whew!).  If you are just reading my typing, then this is confusing.  Just look at the opening lines of the play.  They will be clearer.

*Whatever it is that this “it” refers to, it is declared, by Antigone, to be the worst evil that has ever befallen their family.

What exactly is this new and most terrible evil?  In their family this is pretty high bar to clear because they have certainly seen some “evils” haven’t they?

Their father (Oedipus) killed his birth father on the road, then Oedipus unknowingly married his own birth mother, and when they all found out the truth (his four children are the product of incest) their Dad pulled out his eyes and wandered off to die and Mother hanged herself out of horror and shame.  Then their two brothers, Eteocles and Polyneices, killed each other in combat.

So, what could be worse than all of that?  What could this new “evil” be?

When Antigone reviews Creon’s proclamation she says this at line 33 (look for the little numbers in the margins):

That is what the worthy Creon

has proclaimed for you and me—for me I tell you—((Ant. 33).

What do these words mean?  It is pretty clear what the proclamation does to Polyneices, or to his dead body.  The proclamation made by Creon says that the body of Polyneices is to be left unburied, to be eaten by the birds.

But the words I just quoted are spoken by Antigone and they say the proclamation does something to Antigone and Ismene . . . “for you and me.”

 

Question 2.  Write a sentence (or two) in which you explain what is the new and terrible evil hidden in the proclamation.  What evil does the proclamation send to the two sisters?  What does it attempt to force them to do or not to do?  What exactly is the evil they are now faced with?

(Hint: The new and most awful evil she is referring to is not that their brother might be left, unburied, on the battlefield to be eaten by birds. So, the answer you are looking for is not an evil that will befall Polyneices’s dead body.  He is dead already. 

 Nor is the evil in question the fact that the two sisters might now be executed by their uncle.  That’s closer, because this answer acknowledges that the “evil” coming their way is directed not at the dead body of Polyneices but it is directed at the two sisters..  Still, it isl not the answer you want.

 No, the evil in question here is an evil that could befall the two sisters, which means it is an evil that involves them doing something awful or evil. 

 One last hint: remember that in the Greek world doing what is right is not really the goal, the goal is to avoid doing evil.  Not to do what is wrong is the Greek version of doing what is right.  If you can avoid doing evil, then you are doing what is right.  And what is it that is most likely to cause anyone to do something they know they shouldn’t do?  It is the fear of death that makes people do wrong.

 So, now try to answer the question: What exactly is this new evil headed their way?

*At line 43 Antigone says: “Here is this hand, will you help it to lift the dead man.”

Then, at line 69 Antigone says: “I would not urge you now: nor if you wanted / to act would I be glad to have you with me.”

 

Question 3.  In a single sentence say what it is that Antigone is asking her sister to do at line 43.

 

Question 4.  In a single sentence say what it is Antigone refusing or denying her sister at line 69.

*Let’s think about the difference between what Antigone is saying at line 43 and what Antigone is saying at line 69.

If you can explain what causes Antigone to shift

from:

  • asking for Ismene’s help

to:

  • insisting that she would not now accept Ismene’s help even if Ismene were to offer it

. . . then you are well on your way to understanding what the two sisters are actually arguing about.

 

It appears that Antigone and Ismene are arguing over whether or not to leave their brother unburied.  Is that the answer we are looking for?  No.  It would be false to say that the two sisters are arguing because one sister wants to bury Polyneices and the other sister does not want to see him buried?

Ismene never says that she wants to see Polyneices left unburied.

Ismene never says that she wants to see Polyneices left unburied.  What she says is this: awful as it is to leave him unburied, under the circumstances we must leave him unburied.

Why would Ismene think they must obey the proclamation?

Well take another look at the opening lines of Ismene’s long speech.  She begins with a list.

  • First, our father . . .
  • then our mother . . .
  • then, third, just the other day our two brothers . . .
  • “and now there are only the two of us left . . .”

So, if you want to understand what Ismene is thinking you need to recognize that it has something to do with the fact that all the other members of their family are dead.

Ismene thinks that awful as it is to contemplate, they simply must leave Polyneices unburied because, as women, they have an even higher obligation, even more fundamental than their obligation to bury the dead members of their family.

As women and as the last two living members of their family, they must do what is necessary to preserve the family.  Ismene represents the reasonable view that their obligation under the circumstances (see the list, above) is to stay alive in order to marry and have children.  To choose to bury Polyneices at this point would mean abandoning their family because if the two sisters die then the family will go extinct.

So, let’s outline Ismene’s position first, and then we will try to construct Antigone’s position.

*What are the two sisters actually arguing about?

 First reading and analysis.

  • It appears that the two sisters are arguing over whether or not to bury Polyneices; (because of course they are arguing about this, but the question is why, what is the underlying cause of their surface disagreement?)
  • And yet neither sister actually wishes to see Polyneices’s body left unburied.
  • Rather, Ismene thinks that they must leave him unburied in order to preserve the family.

Conclude that what the two sisters are really arguing about is the preservation of the family.

Ismene knows that everyone else is already dead and so unless the two of them survive and have children (new family members) then the family of Oedipus will go extinct.  If the two of them bury Polyneices and are executed, that means the extinction of their family.

Second reading and analysis.

  • It appears that the two sisters are arguing over whether or not to do what is necessary to preserve the family.
  • And yet neither sister is opposed to preserving the family.
  • Rather, Antigone thinks that to preserve the family they must bury Polyneices and die doing so, while Ismene thinks they must remain alive to make more family members.

Conclude that the two sisters are really arguing about is what it means to preserve the family. 

Again, Ismene thinks the only way to preserve the family is to stay alive and make babies.  What could Antigone possibly understand by “preservation” of the family.

Third reading and final analysis.

  • The two sisters are arguing over whether or not to bury Polyneices because they disagree about what it means to preserve the family.
  • And the two sisters disagree about what it means to preserve the family because they represent two fundamentally different ideas of what it means to be human.
  • Ismene thinks, quite reasonably, that you can’t really be a human being unless you are biologically alive. (Ismene doubtless knows that other factors are important too, but at the very least you can’t be a good human or a bad human unless you are at the very least biologically alive).
  • Antigone thinks that what defines you as a human is not simply whether or not you are biologically alive, but whether or not you are living honorably or dishonorably.

So, . . . Antigone believes that in order to preserve the family you need to preserve the family honor.  Ismene believes that it makes no sense to talk about preserving the family honor if there are no more living members of the family.

That’s a whole lot to cover so I’m now going to ask you some simple questions to make sure you are following this set of interlocking arguments.

 

Question 5.  In a single sentence say why it is that after hearing Ismene’s speech Antigone suddenly changes her mind.  After hearing Ismene’s long speech, rather than asking for her help as she had before, Antigone instead refuses her sister’s help at line 69.

After hearing what her sister, Ismene, says in her long speech “we are only women” . . . Antigone changes from asking for her help “here is this hand, will you help” . . . to refusing to allow Ismene to help.  Why?

HINT: In your answer to question 4 you already said WHAT Antigone is refusing.  She is refusing her sister’s help in burying their brother’s body.  Now your job is to say WHY Antigone now suddenly refuses her sister’s help. 

 HINT #2: Whose job is it to bury the dead?  It is the job of the state or government?  No.  It is of course, the obligation of your family to “bury” and honor the dead in your family. 

Now, tell me why Ismene would suddenly no longer allowed to help in the burial.

 

Question 6.  Which of the two sisters agrees with Creon and wants to see Polyneices left to be eaten by the birds?

HINT: Before you answer, be sure to re-read “First Reading and Analysis” just above

ISMENE’S ARGUMENT:  When Ismene thinks about preserving the family she is thinking, quite reasonably, that if there are no members of the family left alive then they have failed to preserve the family.  And if they bury Polyneices then they will both be executed.  So Ismene thinks, quite reasonably, that they can’t afford to be heroic in this case because their prime responsibility is to preserve the family.

 

Question 7- 8.  Now I want you to play the role of Antigone and write a two to three sentence response to Ismene in which Antigone argues in favor of preserving the family, but in a different sense from what Ismene means by “preservation.”

HINT: Your goal is to have Antigone agree with the absolute importance of preserving the family, but come to the opposite conclusion as to what they must do, and why.

The problem or question that drives the opening clash between the two sisters is a clash of two fundamentally different views of what defines us as human beings.

 

Question 9.  In a single complete sentence tell me what Ismene thinks is required for a human being to be a human being.

HINT: I call her position or opinion the “biological” definition of what it means to be human.

 

 

Question 10.  In a single sentence tell me what Antigone thinks defines us as the humans that we are, marking us as fully human or not fully mature humans?

HINT: I call her position the “heroic” definition of what it means to be a human.

To complete this Reading Worksheet you will be following the same process you used for your previous assignments.

  • Open a document and give it this title at the top of the page: Reading Worksheet Antigone-Ismene
  • Copy the Answer Sheet (just below). Then paste it into your new document.  Now you can write your answers directly onto it.
  • When you have completed your answers, hit SAVE, and then upload to CANVAS.

Identify the logical connections between the themes and ideas in the following three texts analyzed during this course.

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Logical connections

Identify the logical connections between the themes and ideas in the following three texts analyzed during this course. Then, using a strong thesis statement, compose an essay that demonstrates an understanding of the intellectual and historical changes that have taken place in the development of human civilization during the covered time period. Support your analysis with additional literary/historical/philosophical examples from the course. College-level writing is expected. You have 30 minutes.

The three primary texts for discussion are:

  • Plato’s Republic.
  • Aristotle’s Politics.
  • Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologica.

Explain what a thought experiments is. Explain the benefits of thought experiments. Explain the limitations of thought experiments.

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Philosophy Question

Same formatting and grading guidelines as previous papers (5-7pgs, 12pt font, double spaced, etc). Please see other assignment sheets if you have any questions. The final paper is intended to be rather straightforward.

  • Explain what a thought experiments is.
  • Explain the benefits of thought experiments.
  • Explain the limitations of thought experiments.

That’s it. At a more detailed level –

  • Make sure to include a pair of thought experiments – like the Trolley Problem cases – where you’re supposed to draw 2 conflicting conclusions about the scenarios. These can be Trolley vs. Organ Transplant; Chairmen; your own; or other researched examples
  • Make sure to describe each scenario. Explain the conclusion. Present the basic principle that explains the conclusion. (e.g., Trolley Driver = redirect trolley, killing 1 less bad than killing 5, pure consequentialist reasoning; Organ Transplant = no surgery, killing 1 worse than letting 5 die, not consequentialist – maybe something about killing being worse than letting people die.) This will be harder if you make up your own cases, but its totally up to you.
  • When you explain what a thought experiment is, you might consider comparing to scientific experiments. Explain what is “experimental” about them? What are we supposed to be able to get from them? What is the methodology (<= super important). We said a lot about this in class, so feel free to address anything that seems important.
  • We talked about a lot of pros/cons. It is okay for you to favor one side and to ultimately conclude that they’re no good (or great!), but make sure you give each side a balanced discussion.
  • If you like thought experiments, you might focus on something more like the Trolley Problem, since it has generated a lot of important discussion. If you hate them, you might focus on the Chairmen because the study had some obvious flaws. This is not necessary however. Talk about whichever you like however you like. Use your judgment.
  • You may limit your discussion to an abstract discussion. Once you give your pair of cases, you needn’t talk about the philosophical/ethical substance of the cases or the disagreement they cause. You would only need to talk about, for example, how the method works in the context of the cases. Basically, use the cases to explain how the method works.
  • However, you may choose to engage with the philosophical debate. One place this might show up is when talking about pros/cons. For example, you might note that thought experiments like the Trolley problem can help us get to generalizable principles. While it might intuitively seem like we’re making inconsistent judgments about the different cases (and therefore getting different conclusions), it might turn out that there’s a more general explanation for our intuitions. The DDE, for example, seems to be able to explain both. The DDE is….The thought experiments helps us discover this by…You get it? You do not need to do this sort of applied work. This is just one way to approach the problem.
  • You might consider trying the new Intro. style that I suggested, but you do not have to do that. If you’re comfortable with the Intro. style I already taught you and want to stick with it – go ahead. Try the new style (just presenting the pair of cases at the intro and offering a brief analysis) only if you feel like it. Its a chance to shake things up, but don’t do it if you think you have a better way of introducing the cases. I suggested this only because I know some of you will struggle effectively incorporating the cases into the paper. This will be especially true for people who only want to do the more abstract analysis. This way, you can introduce them. Say that they’re important. Give the general intro. to say what you’ll do in the paper in light of this interesting methodology, and then just sort of abandon the cases. If you know how to tie them in more organically, please do so. There are many many ways of incorporating the thought experiments into the paper.

Choose an artistic medium not covered in the class. Choose 1 object from that medium. Write a 1300-1500 word paper analyzing that object.

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Philosophy Question

THIS PAPER IS BASED ON CLASS NOTES AND PDFS- NO OUTSIDE SOURCES ALLOWED. OUTSIDE SOURCES ARE CONSIDERED PLAGIARISM.

In this paper, you must analyze an object from an artistic medium not covered in the class. Specifcally, you must:

  • Choose an artistic medium not covered in the class (for example: architecture, video games, garden design, etc).
  • Choose 1 object from that medium (for example: the Eiffel Tower, Mario Kart, Dumbarton Oaks, etc).
  • Write a 1300-1500 word paper analyzing that object.

What roles do activists and journalists play in assuring that corporations are ethical – or at least not evil? How does an educated population fit into activism? College reproduces many aspects of broader society when it’s working – what are those? Why does the government view some activists as terrorists – and others as acceptable?

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Movie Summary

Assignment

After watching the film Broken Rainbow – review them – (two pages double-spaced,MLA format for each review) that shows you’re understanding the ethical problems shown in the films.

Do not provide your own synopsis of each film, and do not use outside synopses (plagiarism), such as IMDB.

Category

Ethical activism, ethics from outside the corporation.

Include these questions in the writing:

What roles do activists and journalists play in assuring that corporations are ethical – or at least not evil? How does an educated population fit into activism? College reproduces many aspects of broader society when it’s working – what are those? Why does the government view some activists as terrorists – and others as acceptable?

Link to watch the movie

What role do documentaries play in telling the world what’s really going on? What is a corporation – based on what you see in the film? What are the ethical dilemmas shown? Besides corporations, what other entities employ people and influence the economy?

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Movie Summary

Assignment

After watching the film Supersize me – review them – (two pages double-spaced,MLA format for each review) that shows you’re understanding the ethical problems shown in the films.

Do not provide your own synopsis of each film, and do not use outside synopses (plagiarism), such as IMDB.

Category

Documentary

Include these questions in the writing:

What role do documentaries play in telling the world what’s really going on? What is a corporation – based on what you see in the film? What are the ethical dilemmas shown? Besides corporations, what other entities employ people and influence the economy? Don’t forget that the film business…is a business. If you see no corporations in the film – expand.

Link to watch the movie for free

Should a U.S. or European company take advantage of a country’s weak approach to business and political ethics? Would your answer change if your decision saved your company $1 million?

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Business Ethics Case Study 500-700 words

PROMPT: Is It Ethical to Dump Toxic Waste in Countries That Allow It? Should a multinational company take advantage of another country’s lack of regulation or enforcement if it saves money to do so? A New York Times news correspondent reporting from Nigeria found a collection of steel drums stacked behind a village’s family living compound. In this mid-1990s case, ten thousand barrels of toxic waste had been dumped where children live, eat, and drink.

As safety and environmental hazard regulations in the United States and Europe have driven toxic waste disposal costs up to $3,000 per ton, toxic waste brokers are looking for the poorest nations with the weakest laws, often in West Africa, where the costs might be closer to $3 per ton. The companies in this incident were looking for cheap waste-dumping sites, and Nigeria agreed to take the toxic chemical waste without notifying local residents. Local people wearing shorts, t-shirts, and sandals unloaded barrels of polychlorinated biphenyls, placing them next to a residential area. Nigeria has often been near the top of the United Nations’ list of most corrupt nations, with government leaders cutting deals to line their own pockets while exposing their citizens to environmental hazards. A more recent example occurred in Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) in 2006, when residents discovered that hundreds of tons of “slops” (chemicals) from a foreign-owned ship had been dumped near Abidjan, the country’s commercial capital. The ship was owned by a multinational energy company named Trafigura. According to a report from Amnesty International, more than 100,000 residents were sickened, leading to fifteen deaths. Trafigura had illegally dumped the toxic waste in Côte d’Ivoire after searching for a disposal site in several other countries.

43 Critical Thinking

  • Should a U.S. or European company take advantage of a country’s weak approach to business and political ethics?
  • Would your answer change if your decision saved your company $1 million?