Reference no: EM132226410
Answer one of the following five questions and make an outline for the question you pick.
1. The pursuit and accumulation of wealth is a core feature of the modern world. Yet throughout history man has expressed criticisms, cautions and concerns about the accumulation of private property and its implications. Discuss some of these criticisms, cautions and concerns as they have been expressed over time and whether any of them bear relevance today.
2. By the time Adam Smith’s An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations was published in 1776, Europe had undergone a dramatic transformation from a feudal, largely agrarian society to an increasingly market-based commercial society. Discuss some of the more significant, transformative societal developments, and their implications, from 1492 to 1776.
3. Much has been written about the so-called “Adam Smith Problem;” the apparent dichotomy between his Theory of Moral Sentiments and An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. Discuss whether these two works are reconcilable with one another. Do they reflect two very different imaginations of humans? Do they suggest that the author changed his mind after writing the first book? Might they represent a more complex and unifiable imagination of who we are or can be?
4. We have examined the following as a good definition for Corporate Social Responsibility: The duty of a corporation to create wealth in ways that avoid harm to, protect, or enhance societal assets. Discuss this definition as an expression of the Social Contract Theory. Also discuss the evolution of the Social Contract Theory from its original application to government toward this contemporary application to the world of business.
5. The lives of John D. Rockefeller and Ida Tarbell exemplify the great societal tension of their time; the rise of the great American capitalist titan and the growing fear of what Rockefeller and his like heralded for American society. Discuss whether and in what ways Ms. Tarbell’s criticism of Rockefeller can be seen as a precursor to modern Corporate Social Responsibility theory.