Teaching Ethical Reasoning Using Venn Diagrams

Michelle M. Fleig-Palmer; Kay A. Hodge; Janet L. Lear

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Teaching Ethical Reasoning Using Venn Diagrams

Michelle M. Fleig-Palmer, Kay A. Hodge, and Janet L. Lear

University of Nebraska-Kearney, USA

Volume 9: 2012, pp. 325-342: ABSTRACT

Concern about high-profile ethical lapses by business managers has led to an increasing emphasis on ethics instruction in business schools. Various pedagogical methods are used to expose business students to real-world ethical dilemmas, yet students may not readily grasp the linkages between ethical theories and dilemmas to identify possible ethical solutions. Venn diagrams are a valuable instructional tool in business ethics classes when used with other teaching methodologies such as case studies. We describe how the use of Venn diagrams assists students in visualizing the key points of and the connections between ethical theories and dilemmas to shed light on possible ethical solutions. Examples of teaching exercises are provided along with ideas for future research in the use of Venn diagrams in activating moral imagination and improving ethical reasoning. Overall, positive student reactions to the introduction of Venn diagrams in business ethics classrooms support the use of this methodology.