Brian Berkey

Brian Berkey
  • Associate Professor of Legal Studies & Business Ethics

Contact Information

  • office Address:

    664 Jon M. Huntsman Hall
    3730 Walnut Street
    Philadelphia, PA 19104

Research Interests: business ethics, corporate and individual obligations of justice, moral demandingness, climate change ethics, exploitation, effective altruism, animal ethics, ideal and non-ideal theory, collective obligations, methodology in ethics

Links: CV, Personal Website

Overview

Brian Berkey works in moral and political philosophy (including business ethics and environmental ethics). He has written on issues such as the demandingness of morality, individual and corporate obligations of justice, ethical issues arising with regard to climate change, exploitation, effective altruism, animal ethics, collective obligations, ethical consumerism, and the relationship between ideal and non-ideal theory. He is also interested in methodological issues in ethics and political philosophy, including the appropriate role of appeals to intuitions. His work has appeared in journals such as Philosophy & Public Affairs, Ethics, Mind, Philosophical Studies, Canadian Journal of Philosophy, Utilitas, Business Ethics Quarterly, Journal of Business Ethics, and Journal of Applied Philosophy.

Education

Ph.D in Philosophy, University of California-Berkeley

M.A. in Humanities and Social Thought, New York University

B.A. in Philosophy (with honors) and Politics, New York University, summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa

Academic Positions

Visiting Associate Professor, Georgetown University, Institute for the Study of Markets and Ethics (2022-23)

Berggruen Fellow, Harvard University, Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics (2018-19)

Postdoctoral Fellow, Stanford University, Center for Ethics in Society (2013-15)

Lecturer, University of California-Berkeley, Department of Philosophy (2013)

Research Fellow, University of Melbourne, Social Justice Initiative (2012)

 

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Research

Brian is currently working on papers about the ethics of partner hiring in academia, corporate climate obligations, and autonomous vehicle ethics.

Teaching

Past Courses

  • DYNM6999 - Independent Study

    The purpose of DYNM 6999 is to allow a student to create a customized curriculum to study material beyond or outside the scope of our standard DYNM course offerings. Students must submit a proposal outlining the study area along with the professor's approval. A paper or presentation is required.

  • INSP4997 - Senior Capstone

    This senior-year research course is designed to facilitate the completion of a thesis or project as part of the Huntsman Program's senior capstone experience. Students in the Huntsman Program should consult with the Huntsman Program advisors for more information.

  • LGST1000 - Ethics & Social Resp

    This course explores business responsibility from rival theoretical and managerial perspectives. Its focus includes theories of ethics and their application to case studies in business. Topics include moral issues in advertising and sales; hiring and promotion; financial management; corporate pollution; product safety; and decision-making across borders and cultures.

  • LGST1008 - Ethics & Social Resp

    This course explores business responsibility from rival theoretical and managerial perspectives. Its focus includes theories of ethics and their application to case studies in business. Topics include moral issues in advertising and sales; hiring and promotion; financial management; corporate pollution; product safety; and decision-making across borders and cultures.

  • LGST2200 - Int'l Business Ethics

    This course is a multidisciplinary, interactive study of business ethics within a global economy. A central aim of the course is to enable students to develop a framework to address ethical challenges as they arise within and across different countries. Alternative theories about acting ethically in global environments are presented, and critical current issues are introduced and analyzed. Examples include bribery, global sourcing, environmental sustainability, social reports, intellectual property, e-commerce, and dealing with conflicting standards and values across cultures. As part of this study, the course considers non-Western ethical traditions and practices as they relate to business.

  • LGST2260 - Markets,Morality&Capital

    This course invites students to carefully evaluate one of the fundamental building blocks of capitalism, namely the institution of markets. What is the point of markets? In what ways do markets free us and in what ways do they constrain us? Are there some goods for which it is wrong to have a market? Are markets somehow undemocratic? Is equality compatible with the existence of markets? In reflecting on these questions we will necessarily also be reflecting on the basic structure of our own societies. This course will develop your ability to make and evaluate arguments, both in writing and in conversation, and thereby help you think clearly and critically about politics and society. It will also expose you to an array of arguments from across the political spectrum that will present powerful challenges to your existing beliefs and thereby force you to consider what you really believe and why. Grades will be based on two papers and class participation.

  • LGST6130 - Bus, Soc Resp&Environmt

    This half-credit (.5 cu) course presents students with the opportunity to explore an alternative perspective to what some might consider the traditional or standard model of business. A starting point of the course is to ask whether business firms owe a “social responsibility” that includes, but goes beyond, maximizing profits. The course begins with overarching questions including to whom a business firm owes legal and ethical duties, how to balance or trade-off obligations owed to different stakeholders when they may conflict, and how to consider the distributional and other socially important implications of business decisions. Different sections of this course will examine questions about the responsibility of business toward a number of pressing environmental and social issues, including for example, climate change, fresh water availability, green marketing claims, democratic values, racial and gender diversity, human rights, poverty reduction, and global health issues such as access to medicine. These topics will be treated primarily through the lenses of law and ethics. Please consult individual instructors’ syllabi in the Wharton syllabus repository for further details on what will be covered in each individual section, and please note that topics change over time and in response to student and faculty interests. Finally, students should expect to prepare and present in groups to colleagues in classes on selected issues of business responsibility. This course fulfills the MBA Flex Core requirement in Legal Studies and Business Ethics.

  • LGST9200 - Ethics in Bus & Econ

    The seminar explores the growing academic literature in business ethics. It also provides participants an opportunity to investigate an ethical issue of their choosing in some depth, using their field of specialty as context. The seminar assumes no previous exposure to business ethics. Different business ethics theories and frameworks for investigating issues will be discussed, including corporate social responsibility, corporate moral agency, theories of values, and corporate governance. In turn, these theories will be applied to a range of issues, both domestic and international. Such issues include: corruption in host countries, the management of values in modern corporations, the ethical status of the corporation, ethics in sophisticated financial transactions (such as leveraged derivative transactions), and gender discrimination in the context of cultural differences. Literature not only from business ethics, but from professional and applied ethics, law, and organizational behavior will be discussed. Often, guest speakers will address the seminar. At the discretion of the class, special topics of interest to the class will be examined. Students will be expected to write and present a major paper dealing with a current issue within their major field. The course is open to students across fields, and provides integration of ideas across multiple business disciplines.

  • LGST9950 - Dissertation

    Dissertation

  • PHIL2999 - Independent Study

    Student arranges with a faculty member to pursue a program of reading and writing on a suitable topic.

  • PHIL4998 - Directed Honors Research

    Open only to senior majors in philosophy. Student arranges with a faculty member to do an honors thesis on a suitable topic.

  • PPE3999 - Independent Study

    Student arranges with a faculty member to pursue a research project on a suitable topic. For more information about research and setting up independent studies, visit: https://ppe.sas.upenn.edu/study/curriculum/independent-studies

  • PPE4998 - Directed Honors Research

    Student arranges with a Penn faculty member to do research and write a thesis on a suitable topic. For more information on honors visit: https://ppe.sas.upenn.edu/study/curriculum/honors-theses

Awards And Honors

In the News

Knowledge @ Wharton

Activity

Latest Research

Brian Berkey (Forthcoming), But What if Maximizing Profits Destroys the Planet?.
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In the News

When AI Makes Financial Decisions

Winston Dou, faculty director of the Wharton AI in Finance Lab, explains how AI agents could improve financial decisions while creating new risks for markets, competition, and regulation.…Read More

Knowledge @ Wharton - 2026/10/13
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Awards and Honors

Grant for Conference on Animals and Business, Coefficient Giving 2025
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