The Art of Business Articles and Arguments

Articles in the business world come in a variety of shapes and sizes, all with different ambitions. Some want to persuade the audience to a particular point of view, others to inform. There is a mix between practical purposes and theory. Most often, business articles attempt to persuade the audience, but the methods used vary. Some rely on the credibility of the author to sway readers, others on the logic presented, and still others use a direct appeal to the audience. To examine these different types and how they are employed, two articles will be examined from two different peer-reviewed journals: the University of Chicago Law Review and the Business Ethics Quarterly.

The University of Chicago Law Review and the Business Ethics Quarterly are both published on a quarterly basis and are open to everyone who wishes to subscribe to them. Both are searchable mainly by the JSTOR electronic database, although they are listed by others such as the Business Periodicals Index and HeinOnline. Articles published for each peer-review journal vary by each issue, from five to fifteen with each publication. As their names would suggest, the Chicago Law Review publishes articles pertaining to laws, covering everything from business, medical, and religion. The Business Ethics Quarterly's articles deal only with those that bring to question different business ethic issues. Anyone is able to submit articles, but it is ultimately up to the editing staff of each journal to accept and determine if those articles will be published in future issues. For both journals, the main stipulation for a submission is that the article(s) submitted must have a significant impact on the subject that is being written about, be organized, have a clearly defined argument, and be feasible.

The two articles that will be examined are “A Defense of the Contract at Will” by Richard A. Epstein from The University of Chicago Law Review and “In Defense of Just Cause Dismissal Rules” by John...