Incorporating the Creative Arts into the Study of Business Ethics

Hershey H. Friedman; Deborah S. Kleiner; James A. Lynch

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Incorporating the Creative Arts into the Study of Business Ethics

Hershey H. Friedman

Koppelman School of Business, Brooklyn College, USA

Deborah S. Kleiner

Tobin College of Business, St. John’s University, USA

James A. Lynch

Koppelman School of Business, Brooklyn College, USA

Volume 20: 2023 pp. 77-102: ABSTRACT

Many scholars believe that traditional courses in ethics (especially business ethics) have not been successful in making students ethical. The best that educators can hope is that these courses will help build ethical awareness. It is thus apparent that the apparatus used to teach ethics does not inspire the intellectual leap needed between the abstract awareness of ethical issues to the functional changes in behavior and decision-making. This paper posits that the creative arts, including literature, poetry, music, pictorial art, and film, may provide the tools to help bridge that gap. The creative arts can profoundly impact individuals and cause social change by gradually implanting values and changing beliefs. They can instill morals by using stories, sounds, and images and arouse the passion needed to change behaviors.
Keywords: business ethics, ethics, creative arts, literature, poetry, music, pictorial arts.