Content area
Full Text
Socratic Dialogue as a Tool forTeaching Business Ethics? Kevin MorrellABSTRACT. Within a supportive learning environment, dialogue can allow for the identification and testingof assumptions and tacit beliefs. It can also illustrate theinadequacies in superficial thinking about ethical problems. Internal dialogue allows us to examine our beliefs,and to prepare and evaluate arguments. Each of theseelements is important in the study of business ethics. Thispaper outlines one teaching technique based on Socraticdialogue, and shows how it can be applied to developbusiness students thinking about ethics. After justifyingthe suitability of this technique, and detailing its keyelements, the paper offers for consideration an illustrationof how the technique may be applied in a classroomsetting, using structured role play. The paper concludeswith a teaching agenda, offering suggestions for howthis technique can be applied to teaching business ethicsin an undergraduate, or postgraduate module, where itcan examine language, structures and practices.KEY WORDS: dialogue, ethics, Socratic method,teachingIntroductionDialogue offers the potential to approach idealmodes of discourse such as Mills vision of fair
play to all sides of truth, and Habermas idealspeech situation (Vardy and Grosch, 1999, pp.261262). Socratic dialogue in particular has beenrecognised as an appropriate way to teach bothphilosophy and ethics (Burnyeat, 1990). In addition, models of ancient wisdom, such as Socrateshave been advocated as a basis for enhancingeffective thinking about organisational life (Arnold,1997), enabling problem-finding (Arlin, 1990),and in guarding against complacency or misplacedcertainty (Meacham, 1990). In this light, the general form of dialogue can be seen as a useful way ofenhancing understanding in many different contexts. To provide this paper with a core focus, themore wide ranging applications of dialogue are notexamined. Instead, this paper outlines one particular technique: Socratic dialogue; and one particular context: the teaching of business ethics. Thisfocus is justified because there are particular reasonsfor believing that dialogue can be seen as importantin enhancing students understanding of businessethics. Initially, this can be illustrated by comparingthe original context for Socrates dialogues withthe contemporary context for teaching businessethics.Dr. Kevin Morrell (www.kevinmorrell.org.uk) is a SeniorResearch Fellow at the Local Government Centre, WarwickBusiness School, University of Warwick, Warwickshire,where he is carrying out research into leadership in the publicsector. His prior post was as ESRC Postdoctoral ResearchFellow at Loughborough University Business School,Loughborough, Leicestershire, and he recently finishedworking on a Department of Health funded research project...