Hi, this is my philosophy course assignment in which you have to write an Argument Reconstruction paper of 1000 words. In order to write this critical thinking Argument Reconstruction paper, you have

Assignment 1: Argument Reconstruction

Write a paper where you reconstruct one of the arguments below. Your paper should:

1. Begin with a brief summary of the argument.

2. Reconstruct the argument into standard form: make sure your reconstruction is valid.

3. For each line in your argument, note whether it is a premise or a conclusion. If it is a conclusion, indicate which premises it follows from.

4. Give a brief defense of each premise. You should aim for your defense for each premise to be a paragraph of text in length.

5. Have a brief concluding paragraph where you consider which premise an opponent of this argument would try to deny.

6. The argument reconstruction is a short essay (800-1200 words) and will be evaluated on the clarity and accuracy of the reconstruction.

(1) AN ARGUMENT AGAINST ETHICAL REGULATIONS OF BUSINESS

“The short-sightedness [of ethical business advocates] is also exemplified in speeches by businessmen on social responsibility. This may gain them kudos in the short run. But it helps to strengthen the already too prevalent view that the pursuit of profits is wicked and immoral and must be curbed and controlled by external forces. Once this view is adopted, the external forces that curb the market will not be the social consciences, however highly developed, of the pontificating executives; it will be the iron fist of Government bureaucrats. Here, as with price and wage controls, businessmen seem to me to reveal a suicidal impulse.” (Friedman pp. 5-6)

(2) AN ARGUMENT AGAINST PROFIT AS AN OBLIGATION

“The problem is that “profit” is associated, in many people’s minds, with “self-interest.” “Ethics,” on the other hand, is usually associated with behavior that is “altruistic,” in some sense of the term. More precisely, morality can be understood as a “principled constraint on the pursuit of self-interest.” If this is the case, then substituting “profit” for “self-interest” yields the conclusion that business ethics must represent some sort of principled constraint on the pursuit of profit—not an injunction to maximize it.” (Heath, pp. 540-41)