Business Ethics Concepts & Cases
Chapter Two
Utilitarianism
• Actions and policies should be evaluated on the basis of the
benets and costs they will impose on society.
• The only morally riht action in any situation is that whose
utility is reatest by comparison to the utility of all the other
alternatives .
• !eadin utilitarian theorists"
– #eremy Bentham $traditional utilitarianism%
an action is riht from an ethical point of view if and only if the
sum total of utilities produced by that act is reater than the sum
total of utilities produced by any other act the aent could have
performed in its place.
– #ohn tuart 'ill
*ow to Apply Utilitarian Principles
• +irst) determine what alternative actions or policies are
available to me in that situation.
• econd) for each alternative action) estimate the direct and
indirect benets and costs that the action will probably produce for
all persons a,ected.
• Third) for each action) subtract the costs from the benets
to determine the net utility of each action.
'oral 8ihts
• Can be violated even when :no one is hurt;. • Are correlated with
duties others have
toward the person with the riht. • Provide individuals with
autonomy and
e0uality in the free pursuit of their interests. • Provide a basis
for 5ustifyin one7s actions
and for invo6in the protection or aid of others.
Three <inds of 'oral 8ihts
• =eative rihts re0uire others leave us alone.
$leep )study or silent %
$sin6in ) e1tinuish re%
<ant7s Cateorical 3mperative $+irst ersion%
• e must act only on reasons we would be willin to have anyone in a
similar situation act on.
• The rst version of this theory made formulation that
8e0uires two criteria for determinin moral riht and wron "
universali?ability and reversibility.
• imilar to 0uestions"
:hat if everyone did that2;
:*ow would you li6e it if someone did that to you2;
<ant7s Cateorical 3mperative $econd ersion%
• =ever use people only as a means to your ends) but always treat
them as they freely and rationally consent to be treated and help
them pursue their freely and rationally chosen ends.$don7t use
people to et what you want%
• Based on the idea that humans have a dinity that ma6es them
di,erent from mere ob5ects.
!ibertarian Philosophy
• +reedom from human constraint is necessarily ood and that all
constraints imposed by others are necessarily evil e1cept when
needed to prevent the imposition of reater human constraints.
• 8obert =o?ic67s !ibertarian Philosophy"
– the only moral riht is the neative riht to freedom
Types of #ustice • >istributive #ustice
– re0uires the 5ust distribution of benets and
burdens. $cotton mills and coal mine%
• 8etributive #ustice
• Compensatory #ustice
Ethic of Care
• Emphasi?es preservin and nurturin$care% concrete valuable
relationships.
• e should care for those dependent on and related to us.
Db5ections to Care Approach in Ethics
• An ethic of care can deenerate into favoritism.
– 8esponse" conictin moral demands are an inherent
characteristic of moral choices
• An ethic of care can lead to :burnout $tired%;.
Theories of 'oral irtue
• Aristotle – virtues are habits that enable a person to
live
accordin to reason by habitually choosin the mean between e1tremes
in actions and emotions
• A0uinas – virtues are habits that enable a person to
live
reasonably in this world and be united with Fod in the ne1t
• 'ac3ntyre – virtues are dispositions$behavior% that enable
a person
to achieve the ood at which human :practices; aim
• Pinco,s – virtues are dispositions we use when
choosin
between persons or potential future selves
Db5ections to irtue Theories
• 3t is inconsistent with psycholoy which showed that behavior is
determined by the e1ternal situation) not moral character.
– 8esponse" moral character determines behavior in a person7s
familiar environment.
nconsc ous vs. onsc ous 'oral >ecisions
• Unconscious 'oral >ecisions – Comprise most of our moral
decisions. – 'ade by the brain7s :Gsystem; usin stored
prototypes to automatically and unconsciously identify what it
perceives and what it should do.
• Conscious 'oral >ecisions – 3s used in new) strane) or
unusual situations for
which the brain has no matchin prototypes. – Consists of the
conscious) loical but slow
processes of the brain7s :Csystem;. – Evaluates
reasonableness of our intuitions)
cultural beliefs) and the norms stored in our prototypes.