The title of my class at Emory University this autumn is "The Ethics of Risk." Basically, it is a philosophical look at risk management, as it focuses on a variety of risks to society, including legalism and the morale hazards, absolutism, the environment, and other ethical issues from somewhat of an enterprise risk management approach. We'll examine not only at the pure risks of loss, but also at the areas of risk where society may win as well as lose.

I plan to start the first session of the class with a question I've used in lectures many times: "Why did the chicken cross the busy road?" I'm counting on the typical wisecrack answers to explain why the creature ended up as road kill, even from my very adult students.

The truth is that the ill-fated chicken crossed the road for much the same reason that most loss occurs: because it failed to recognize the risk(s). From that point, our class will analyze the concepts of risk as the chance of loss, or gain, and explore factors such as hazards, perils, exposures, and ways to deal with them in an ethical manner.

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