Bernie Madoff. His very name brings up ethical questions. His investment scandal came to life in a very public way in December, 2008. He admitted that his investment firm had been operating a Ponzi scheme, in which an investor pays dividends to his investors out of their own money, or money raised from subsequent investors. His fraudulent activity represented about $64.8 billion in income. As this story broke, it came to light that there were others doing much the same thing. This domino effect caused many organizations to have to temporarily close. He wound up in jail and has become example number one for ethical issues in the financial world.
Bernie Madoff
One of the effects of this high profile crime was that a group of thinkers were brought together on the campus of Princeton to discuss ethics with students. We seem to be confused over whether Right and Wrong really exist in our world. These panelists wanted to examine this issue with interviews and student questions. This Thinker Education course experience is an introduction to that event. We have put together for you a “taste” of the full experience. The panel and some recorded interviews will lead you through some basic questions about ethical thought:
- How did we get into this mess?
- Is there Truth, a Moral Law we can all know?
- If we know what is right, can we do it?
- What does it mean to be human?
- How do we practice ethics in the market place?
- How do we practice ethics in public life?
The panel discussions are led by Chuck Colson, a best-selling author and social commentator and founder of Prison Fellowship and The Colson Center, and Dr. Robert George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University.
They are joined by Ben Stein, David Miller, Michael Miller, Scott Rae, Dr. Glenn Sunshine, John Stonestreet, and others. The panel discussions are moderated by Fox News Senior Political Commentator Brit Hume.
We hope that after working through this short version you will want to see the whole DVD presentation. Information about how to access that presentation is at the end of this experience.
Version 1.0
