BEJR author Interview: Abraham Singer

Abraham Singer is a PhD student at the University of Toronto’s Department of Political Science. He’s the author of “What is the Best Way to Argue Against the Profit-Maximization Principle?”, published in BEJR in May of 2013, and which has been downloaded 137 times since then in PDF format.

BEJR co-editor, Chris MacDonald, sat down with Abe to talk to him about his experience with the journal.

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Chris MacDonald: What inspired you to submit a Commentary to BEJR?

Abe Singer: I decided to submit a Commentary to BEJR because it was a quick way to engage in a scholarly debate. I mean quick in two senses: quick because BEJR wants short commentaries, so I knew I didn’t need to worry about crafting a huge, intricate paper with dozens of citations; and quick because the turnaround is incredibly fast. That was really attractive to me.

CM: Was your Commentary in BEJR part of a larger project?

AS: Sort of. The commentary I wrote for BEJR was a response to a paper that criticized profit-maximization as a default corporate objective. The author — Waheed Hussain — was arguing that this objective limits the various pursuits corporations might wish to pursue and therefore violates liberal freedom. The larger project I was, and am, working on (my dissertation) is on the relationship between political theory and the corporation, so I’m interested in questions about the ethics of capitalism and the profit-maximization principle. That being said, crafting a specific response to this type of argument was not on my short-term agenda. My work is largely focused on criticizing Chicago economics’ emphasis on profit and shareholder wealth; so I actually agreed with Waheed’s conclusions, but not the form of his argument. I wouldn’t have taken the time to argue about the nitty-gritty details with someone I generally agreed with had there not been a venue like BEJR that made that so feasible.

CM: How did writing for BEJR fit into your workflow?

AS: I literally wrote my Commentary as a way to avoid grading mid-term exams. The first draft took an afternoon at most. It beat the hell out of correcting undergraduate ruminations on Hobbes! Who says procrastination isn’t productive?

CM: What was the editorial experience like? Did we live up to our promises?

AS: For sure. I think the turnaround was a week or so. The review gave good and helpful comments that made my points stronger and clearer. The Commentary was published about two weeks later. Super fast!

CM: Did your Commentary get some attention on social media? We try hard to get the word out about everything we publish. Did it work?

AS: My Commentary was publicized on Facebook and got lots of “likes” from people who I respect in the field. I’m not on Twitter, but friends told me it was getting lots of publicity there too.

CM: We published your Commentary on Waheed Hussain in May, and in June we published a response from Hussain. What was it like having Hussain respond to your Commentary?

AS: It felt like an affirmation. When you’re in grad school it’s easy to feel isolated and unsure of whether you are progressing along the right track. This is true generally, but it’s especially true if you are studying business ethics type stuff in a discipline like political science where that is not a traditional object of study. So it felt good to have an established scholar engage with my Commentary.

CM: Beyond Hussain’s response, what kind of feedback or attention have you received, based on your Commentary?

AS: There have been times since then, at business ethics conferences, when people will tell me they read my commentary in BEJR and we’ll start discussing issues related to the idea of profit-maximization, or corporate objectives in general. That is the best part — that the commentary leads to more debate and conversation. A friend also recently punched my name into Google Scholar and discovered that my BEJR Commentary is cited in an Italian research document of some kind. So the “Singer-Hussain” debate has continental legs, apparently!

CM: As a junior scholar, how has being published in BEJR helped you and your career?

AS: Well, I’m still a lowly PhD candidate, so it is perhaps too soon to tell. That said, I definitely think I am taken more seriously as an academic and a professional by virtue of having engaged in this way. Aside from a line on my CV — which is obviously a very good thing, because I’m currently on the job market — having published a peer-reviewed Commentary is evidence that you are serious about scholarship, and that you’re engaged in the field. Again, this is especially important being a graduate student in a political science department. It has led to some important institutional affiliations, and co-authored projects (currently in progress) with scholars I greatly admire.

CM: How has being published in BEJR changed your attitude toward publishing?

AS: This is probably the most important benefit of publishing the commentary with BEJR: it pretty much eliminated the mystique associated with scholarly publishing, and lowered the psychological barriers. When you’re a grad student, publishing can seem like a far-off goal that is exclusively the domain of the accomplished scholars you study under. It’s intimidating. Publishing something in BEJR was great because after doing that I felt like, “Oh, I can do this!” That isn’t to say publishing is easy, or that I now approach it lackadaisically. But it helped make publication feel more like something I am capable of doing, and something I ought to be aiming for.

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v2n7: Hasnas Responds to Wolcott on Business Ethics Education

“The Principles Approach Is a Big Tent Approach” by John Hasnas

A RESPONSE TO Gregory Wolcott (2014), “Business Ethics and Ideals”, Bus Ethics J Rev 2(6): 36–41.

Abstract: In his Commentary on my Principles Approach, Gregory Wolcott (2014) worries that the approach leaves no room for ethical theory and decries the tendency of business school faculty to derive ethical conclusions from legal standards. However, the Principles Approach is, by design, open to supplementation by ethical theory and has the virtue of providing a basis for making ethical assessments of legal standards.

To download the full PDF, click here: Hasnas Responds to Wolcott.

v2n6: Wolcott on Hasnas on Teaching Business Ethics

“Business Ethics and Ideals” by Gregory Wolcott

A COMMENTARY ON John Hasnas (2013), “Teaching Business Ethics: The Principles Approach”, J Bus Ethics Ed 10: 275–304.

Abstract: John Hasnas (2013) argues for a “Principles Approach” to supplant normative theory and casuistry in business ethics pedagogy. This Commentary argues some normative theory ought still to have some place in business ethics education and that the problems Hasnas sees in business ethics pedagogy only tell half the story.

To download the full PDF, click here: Wolcott on Hasnas.

v2n5: Beabout Responds to Sinnicks on the Essence of Management

“Once More On Re-Conceiving Management as a Domain-Relative Practice:
A Response to Sinnicks” by Gregory Beabout

A RESPONSE TO Sinnicks (2014), “Mastery of One’s Domain Is Not the Essence of Management”, Bus Ethics J Rev 2(2): 8–14.

Abstract: Matthew Sinnicks has attempted to cast doubt on my efforts to extend MacIntyre’s virtue ethics with regard to re-conceiving management as a domain-relative practice. However, rather than weakening my argument, his objections provide an opportunity to clarify a key distinction, address several misunderstandings, respond to criticisms, rectify misrepresenta- tions, and show again that MacIntyre’s virtue ethics provides a fertile framework for re-casting issues of management and business ethics, including a transformed understanding of management as a domain- relative practice.

To download the full PDF, click here: Beabout Responds to Sinnicks.

v2n4: Norman Responds to Martin on the ‘Point’ of Markets

“Is there ‘a Point’ to Markets? A Response to Martin,” by Wayne Norman

A RESPONSE TO Dominic Martin (2013), “The Unification Challenge”, Bus Ethics J Rev 1(5): 28–35.

Abstract: Dominic Martin attributes to me and other adherents of the market-failures approach to business ethics a narrow account of justification, focused solely on economic efficiency. On the contrary, I argue the appeal to efficiency and market failure is best seen as a pragmatic, Rawlsian, strategy to find common ground and a shared vocabulary for business ethicists who have long been Balkanized by overly ideological “theories.” So understood, the market-failures approach is not the reductivist program Martin portrays it to be. Efficiency and the taming of market failures should be seen as one of many grounds (albeit usually the most important) for both regulatory and beyond-compliance norms for business in a capitalist democracy.

To download the full PDF, click here: Norman Responds to Martin.

v2n3: Koehn on Dierksmeier’s Kantian Virtue Ethics

“Kantian Virtue Ethics in the Context of Business: How Practically Useful Can It Be?” by Daryl Koehn

A COMMENT ON Claus Dierksmeier (2013), “Kant On Virtue,” J Bus Ethics 113: 597–609.
Abstract: Claus Dierksmeier admirably combats the misperception that Kant is a deontologist with no regard for virtue. Dierksmeier contends Kant offers a theory of virtue that can contribute in significant ways to advancing the analysis of, e.g., stakeholder theory and internal compliance programs. His plea that business ethicists should view Kant as a resource for thinking more widely and deeply about virtue seems eminently sensible. However, there are grounds for questioning whether a Kantian approach will be of much help in thinking through the ethics of real world business practices.

To download the full PDF, click here: Koehn on Dierksmeier.

v2n2: Sinnicks on Beabout

“Mastery of One’s Domain Is Not the Essence of Management” by Matthew Sinnicks

A COMMENT ON Gregory Beabout (2012), “Management as a Domain-Relative Practice that Requires and Develops Practical Wisdom,” Bus Ethics Q 22(2): 405–432

Abstract: I attempt to cast doubt on Beabout’s attempt to build on MacIntyre’s ethical theory by accounting for management as a ‘domain-relative’ practice for three reasons: i) we can partially engage in practices, so if management can be accounted a practice there is no need to invoke domain-relativity; ii) management does not seem to be domain-relative in the same way that other examples of domain-relative practices might be; and iii) practical wisdom, which Beabout sees as key to management as a domain-relative practice, is adequately covered by MacIntyre’s account of politics.

To download the full PDF, click here: Sinnicks on Beabout.

v2n1: Cohen Responds to Ohreen on Empathy in Business Ethics Education

“Empathy in Business Ethics Education Redux,” by Marc A. Cohen

A RESPONSE TO David Ohreen (2013), “The Limits of Empathy in Business Ethics Education”, Bus Ethics J Rev 1(18): 113–119.

Abstract: My original paper (Cohen 2012) argued that business ethics education should focus on cultivating empathetic concern. This response clarifies terminology used in that paper and responds to criticisms presented by David Ohreen (2013).

To download the full PDF, click here: Cohen Responds to Ohreen.

v1n18: Ohreen on Cohen

“The Limits of Empathy in Business Ethics Education” by David Ohreen

A COMMENT ON Marc A. Cohen (2012), “Empathy in Business Ethics Education,” J Bus Ethics Educ 9(1): 359–376, http://dx.doi.org/10.5840/jbee2012918

Abstract: This paper challenges Cohen’s application of empathy to business ethics education. I argue Cohen fails to adequately address the problems of empathetic penetrability and accuracy in regards to reading other’s minds. Given these problems, I conclude empathy may be less important as an antecedent to moral action than Cohen suggests.

To download the full PDF, click here: Ohreen on Cohen.

BEJR Now in Philosopher’s Index

Good news! We just got confirmation that the Business Ethics Journal Review is now going to be indexed in the Philosopher’s Index, alongside top journals like Business Ethics Quarterly and Journal of Business Ethics. We will be added to their list of ‘regularly indexed’ journals and our listing there will be continuously updated as new Commentaries and Responses are published.

Philosophers will know that the Philosopher’s Index is the canonical listing of publications in philosophy. Over the last five decades or so, the Philosopher’s Index has amassed over “525,000 journal article and book citations covering over 1500 journals from 139 countries in 37 languages.”

Of course, BEJR is not just for philosophers — we welcome submissions from management scholars, economics, legal scholars, and political scientists, just for starters. But this listing marks an important milestone in the growing recognition of BEJR as a credible venue for scholarly publication in the world of business ethics.