Matthew T. Phillips
John Hendley Fellow and Associate Teaching Professor of Law & Ethics
James R. Otteson
Thomas W. Smith Presidential Chair in Business Ethics and Professor of Economics
Adam S. Hyde
Former Research Assistant Professor, BB&T Center for the Study of Capitalism
Why this course
What is the proper role of business in a humane and just society? Many people believe that business is an inherently suspicious activity. That suspicion is evident in the common belief that businesspeople need to “give back” to society. Is business an activity for which people must atone? Why exactly are people suspicious of it? Are they right to be suspicious?
In this course we will explore the nature of business, as well as the nature of the market economy of which it forms an integral part. We will investigate how business and the market economy function, both in theory and in practice, and what the purposes are that they are supposed to serve. We will also look at the moral implications of some specific issues and cases that arise in a market economy, in an effort to understand what limits, if any, there should be on business and markets.
Biography
Matthew Phillips teaches business law and ethics at Wake Forest University School of Business. He is the director of the BB&T Center for the Study of Capitalism, which helps students explore the profession of business and its role in a humane and just society. Matthew received undergraduate and law degrees from Wake Forest and a Master of Divinity degree from Duke University. Prior to teaching, Matthew practiced law in Winston-Salem.
Jim Otteson is the Thomas W. Smith Presidential Chair in Business Ethics at Wake Forest University School of Business and a professor of economics. He is the executive director of the Eudaimonia Institute at Wake Forest and a senior fellow in the BB&T Center at the Business School. He received his BA from the University of Notre Dame and his PhD in philosophy from the University of Chicago. Jim’s work includes books on ethics, political economy, and Adam Smith.
Adam Hyde is the assistant director of the Eudaimonia Institute at Wake Forest. He is an economist with specialties in public policy, industrial organization, and labor markets - particularly applied to health and health care. He earned his AB in economics from Franklin and Marshall College and his PhD in economics from the University of Virginia. He has served as a research assistant professor in the BB&T Center for the Study of Capitalism and an assistant professor at the Wake Forest University School of Business, where he won multiple awards for teaching economics to graduate students.
