Abstract
This chapter presents the structure of the book and the arguments for addressing professional and business ethical issues through reception and analysis of narrative films, as well as through discussions of relevant real-world cases. The task is to provoke discussions on film’s ethical import, on film’s artistic import, and on film’s business import. Following this introductory chapter, the book is organized in additional seven chapters. It starts by addressing normative ethical theories and critical thinking, and by presenting the elements of narrative film. Subsequent discussions include: the corporate and banking financial machinations, workplace harassment, corruption, whistleblowing, outsourcing and downsizing, innovation and competition, relation of businesses with stakeholders in society, personal responsibility and entity challenges due to career pressures, loss of privacy, and cyber harassment.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Hegel examined architecture, sculpture, painting, music and poetry in his Lectures on Aesthetics, between 1818 and 1819 (Hegel 1975). Due to the invention of motion picture cameras, the establishment of film production companies started in 1890s. However, it was not until 1911 that the film was named the “seventh art.” Riciotto Canudo in 1911 initially named film the sixth art form, but subsequently changed it to the seventh art form, including dance as the sixth form. The first films were under a minute long and the sound was introduced in 1927.
- 2.
See the discussion in Aristotle (1975, 1103a24).
- 3.
Stanley Kubrick commented on editing, “…Editing is the only unique aspect of filmmaking which does not resemble any other art form – a point so important it cannot be overstressed… It can make or break a film.” (Walker 1999, p. 42).
- 4.
Scorsese’s lecture is available at https://www.neh.gov/about/awards/jefferson-lecture/2013-jefferson-lecture-live-stream.
- 5.
See the obituary in The New York Times “Sidney Lumet, Director of American Film Classics, Dies at 8” (Berkvist 2011).
- 6.
See the discussion in Darren Aronofsky’s Films and the Fragility of Hope (Skorin-Kapov 2017, pp. 143–144).
- 7.
See the discussion in The Intertwining of Aesthetics and Ethics: Exceeding of Expectations, Ecstasy, Sublimity (Skorin-Kapov 2016).
- 8.
See the report by Greg Miller, “Data from a Century of Cinema Reveals How Movies Have Evolved” (Miller 2014).
- 9.
See “The Brain Is the Screen: An Interview with Gilles Deleuze,” in The Brain Is the Screen (Flaxman 2000).
- 10.
- 11.
The documentary The Real Wolf of Wall Street is a presentation from September 10, 2014 at the 92nd Street Y, at the Forum on Law, Culture & Society, NYU School of Law, available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojPgjguFgLk.
- 12.
The list of mass shootings in America: https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/national/mass-shootings-in-america/.
- 13.
Use of industrial robots in manufacturing; World Economic Forum: Top 9 ethical issues in artificial intelligence https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/10/top-10-ethical-issues-in-artificial-intelligence/.
References
Al-Mahmood, Syed Zain. 2013. “Safety Groups Agree on Standards for Bangladesh Garment Factories.” The Wall Street Journal, November 20. Accessed April 11, 2017. https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304337404579209954273740442.
Aristotle. 1975. Nicomachean Ethics. Translated by H. G. Apostle. Grinnell, IA: The Peripatetic Press.
Berkvist, Robert. 2011. “Sidney Lumet, Director of American Film Classics, Dies at 86.” The New York Times, April 9. Accessed April 11, 2017. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/10/movies/sidney-lumet-director-of-american-classics-dies-at-86.html.
Brenner, Marie. 1996. “The Man Who Knew Too Much.” Vanity Fair, May. Accessed April 11, 2017. http://www.vanityfair.com/magazine/1996/05/wigand199605.
Brooks, Leonard J., and Paul Dunn. 2014. Business & Professional Ethics for Directors, Executives & Accountants. 7th ed. Cincinnati, OH: South-Western College Publishing.
Carel, Havi, and Greg Tuck. 2011. New Takes in Film-Philosophy. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Carroll, Noell, and Jinhee Choi. 2006. Philosophy of Film and Motion Pictures: An Anthology (Blackwell Philosophy Anthologies). Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
Chase, Alston. 2000. “Harvard and the Making of the Unabomber.” The Atlantic Monthly, June, 41–65. Accessed January 25, 2018. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2000/06/harvard-and-the-making-of-the-unabomber/378239/.
Cox, Damian, and Michael P. Levine. 2012. Thinking Through Film: Doing Philosophy, Watching Movies. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
Diamond, Stuart. 1985. “The Bhopal Disaster: How It Happened.” The New York Times, January 28. Accessed April 11, 2017. http://www.nytimes.com/1985/01/28/world/the-bhopal-disaster-how-it-happened.html?pagewanted=all.
Ewing, Jack. 2015. “Volkswagen Says 11 Million Cars Worldwide Are Affected in Diesel Deception.” New York Time, September 22. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/23/business/international/volkswagen-diesel-car-scandal.html.
Farndale, Nigel. 2008. “Lehman Brothers Collapse: How the Worst Economic Crisis in Living Memory Began.” The Telegraph, December 23. Accessed April 11, 2017. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/recession/3917584/Lehman-Brothers-collapse-How-the-worst-economic-crisis-in-living-memory-began.html.
Ferrell, O. C., John Fraedrich, and Linda Ferrell. 2015. Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making and Cases. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Fingar, Peter. 2015. Cognitive Computing: A Brief Guide for Game Changers. Tampa, FL: Meghan-Kiffer Press.
Flaxman, Gregory, ed. 2000. The Brain Is the Screen. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Gallese, Vittorio, and Michele Guerra. 2012. “Embodying Movies: Embodied Simulation and Film Studies.” Cinema: Journal of Philosophy and the Moving Image 3: 183–210.
Gilmore, Richard A. 2005. Doing Philosophy at the Movies. Albany: State University of New York Press.
Goodley, Simon. 2013. “Dagenham Sewing Machinists Recall Strike That Changed Women’s Lives.” The Guardian, June 6. Accessed April 11, 2017. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/jun/06/dagenham-sewing-machinists-strike.
Groom, Nichola. 2011. “Mattel Loses Lawsuit with MGA Entertainment Over Bratz Dolls.” The Huffington Post, June 21. Accessed April 11, 2017. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/21/mattel-loses-lawsuit-with-mga-bratz_n_852223.html.
Hegel, G. W. F. 1975. Aesthetics: Lectures on Fine Art. Translated by T. M. Knox. Vol. 1. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Holusha, John. 1989. “Exxon’s Public-Relations Problem.” The New York Times, April 21. Accessed April 11, 2017. http://www.nytimes.com/1989/04/21/business/exxon-s-public-relations-problem.html?pagewanted=all.
Hunsberger, Brent. 2008. “Adidas Wins $305 Million Trademark Case Against Payless.” The Oregonian, May 6. Accessed April 11, 2017. http://blog.oregonlive.com/playbooksandprofits/2008/05/adidas_wins_305_million_tradem.html.
Legal_Momentum. 1997. “Jenson v. Eveleth Taconite Co.” Legal Momentum. http://www.legalmomentum.org/legal-cases/jenson-v-eveleth-taconite-co.
Lewis, Michael. 2015. The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine. New York: W. W. Norton.
Litch, Mary M. 2010. Philosophy Through Film. 2nd ed. (1st edition in 2002). Abingdon: Routledge.
McDougall, Paul. 2014. “Bored of The USA? ‘Made In America’ Jeans Maker Levi Strauss to Move 500 Jobs Offshore.” International Business Times, November 13. Accessed April 11, 2017. http://www.ibtimes.com/bored-usa-made-america-jeans-maker-levi-strauss-move-500-jobs-offshore-1723477.
McLeod, Saul. 2017. “Stanford Prison Experiment.” Simply Psyschology. Accessed January 30, 2018. https://www.simplypsychology.org/zimbardo.html.
Merle, Renae, and Ellen Nakashima. 2016. “Federal Prosecutors Launch Probe into Wells Fargo’s Sales Tactics.” The Washington Post, September 14. Accessed February 27, 2018. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/federal-prosecutors-launch-probe-into-wells-fargos-sales-tactics/2016/09/14/dc3b7e90-7abc-11e6-bd86-b7bbd53d2b5d_story.html?utm_term=.f9c771e8d80b.
Milgram, Stanley. 1963. “Behavioral Study of Obedience.” The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology 67 (4): 371–78.
Miller, Greg. 2014. “Data from a Century of Cinema Reveals How Movies Have Evolved.” Wired Science, September 8. Accessed September 2014. https://www.wired.com/2014/09/cinema-is-evolving/.
Oppel Jr., Richard A., and Andrew Ross Sorkin. 2001. “Enron’s Collapse: The overview; Enron Collapses as Suitor Cancels Plans for Merger.” The New York Times, November 11. Accessed April 11, 2017. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/29/business/enron-s-collapse-the-overview-enron-collapses-as-suitor-cancels-plans-for-merger.html.
Plantinga, Carl, and Greg M. Smith. 1999. Passionate Views: Film, Cognition and Emotion. Baltimore, MD: The John Hopkins University Press.
Richter, Paul. 1988. “$24.5-Billion Bid Wins RJR Nabisco: Record Offer from Buyout Specialist Ends Nation’s Biggest Takeover Battle.” Los Angeles Times, December 1. Accessed April 11, 2017. http://articles.latimes.com/1988-12-01/news/mn-930_1_rjr-nabisco.
Rollin, Jack. 2016. “The FIFA Corruption Scandal: Year in Review 2016.” Encyclopaedia Britanica, October 17. Accessed April 11, 2017. https://www.britannica.com/topic/FIFA-Corruption-Scandal-The-2076091.
Schudel, Matt. 2005. “Accomplished, Frustrated Inventor Dies.” Washington Post, February 26. Accessed March 1, 2018. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54564-2005Feb25.html.
Shaw, Daniel. 2008. Film and Philosophy: Taking Movies Seriously. New York: Wallflower.
Shaw, William H. 2014. Business Ethics. 8th ed. Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Sherefkin, Robert. 2003. “Lee Iacocca’s Pinto: A Fiery Failure.” Automotive News, June 16. Accessed April 11, 2017. http://www.autonews.com/article/20030616/SUB/306160770/lee-iacoccas-pinto:-a-fiery-failure.
Skorin-Kapov, Jadranka. 2016. The Intertwining of Aesthetics and Ethics: Exceeding of Expectations, Ecstasy, Sublimity. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
———. 2017. Darren Aronofsky’s Films and the Fragility of Hope. Reprint Paperback edition. London: Bloomsbury Academic.
Smith, Greg M. 2003. Film Structure and the Emotion System. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
Solomon, Jay, and Kathryn Kranhold. 2005. “In India’s Outsourcing Boom, GE Played a Starring Role.” Wall Street Journal, March 23. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5356af05e4b095ff0fea9e11/t/53835b58e4b014795b1efa23/1401117528649/WSJ+India%27s+Outsourcing+Boom.pdf.
Stevenson, Richard W. 1995. “The Collapse of Barings: The Overview, Young Trader’s $29 Billion Bet Brings Down a Venerable Firm.” The New York Times, February 28. Accessed April 11, 2017. http://www.nytimes.com/1995/02/28/us/collapse-barings-overview-young-trader-s-29-billion-bet-brings-down-venerable.html?pagewanted=all.
Stoehr, Kevin L., ed. 2002. Film and Knowledge: Essays on the Integration of Images and Ideas. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc.
Tan, Ed S. 2011. Emotion and the Structure of Narrative Film: Film as an Emotion Machine. Translated by Barbara Fasting. New York: Routledge (Routledge Communication Series).
Teays, Wanda. 2012. Seeing the Light: Exploring Ethics Through Movies. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
———. 2015. Business Ethics Through Movies: A Case Study Approach. Malden, MA: Wiley Blackwell.
Walker, Alexander. 1999. Stanley Kubrick, Director: A Visual Analysis. W. W. Norton.
Wang, Yanan. 2015. “In Flint, Mich., There’s So Much Lead in Children’s Blood That a State of Emergency Is Declared.” The Washington Post, December 15. Accessed April 11, 2017. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/12/15/toxic-water-soaring-lead-levels-in-childrens-blood-create-state-of-emergency-in-flint-mich/?utm_term=.440e05a32798.
Zillman, Claire. 2015. “UPS Loses Supreme Court Pregnancy Discrimination Case.” Fortune, March 25. Accessed April 11, 2017. http://fortune.com/2015/03/25/ups-pregnancy-discrimination/.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Skorin-Kapov, J. (2019). Introduction. In: Professional and Business Ethics Through Film. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-89333-4_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-89333-4_1
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-89332-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-89333-4
eBook Packages: Business and ManagementBusiness and Management (R0)