Though originally published in , this is still a seminal work in the history of utilitarianism. Hamburger, Joseph. ‘Religion and “On Liberty.”’ In A Cultivated Mind: Essays on J.S. Mill Presented to John M. Robson, edited by Michael Laine, Toronto: Univ. of Toronto Press, Harrison, Ross Utilitarianism is a popular and widely applied ethical theory that was first proposed by John Stuart Mill. According to this theory, the moral nature of an action can be deduced by calculating its net utility Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that says that the right thing to do in any situation is whatever will “do the most good” (that is, whatever will produce the best outcomes) taking into consideration the interests of all concerned parties. Utilitarianism is part of a larger family of consequentialist ethical theories—theories according to which the rightness or wrongness of actions is
Utilitarianism: Death Penalty - View on Capital Punishment Essay
The study of ethics focuses on human relationships and what is essays on utilitarianism morally correct in human behaviors, essays on utilitarianism.
Following ethical dilemmas and ethical lapses in business practices that became eminent in the s, the concept of business ethics emerged to expound business ethical principles Arnold et al. As the need for mutual understanding between workers and companies intensifies, essays on utilitarianism, organizational discourse is currently revolving around ethical business principles that are paramount for organizational success in the modern day businesses.
Cases of ethical lapses are still on the rise, essays on utilitarianism, and thus developing an understanding of the issues in the context of decent business practices is becoming essential. The notion of ethical business practices has led to the formation of theories including the utilitarian theory, rights theory, justice theory, caring theory, and virtues theory, which have since been integral in the understanding of business ethics.
This study analyzes these theories in the context of the case of deaths at the Massey Energy Company. The Massey Energy Company owned numerous mining companies across the United States.
The death incidence occurred at the Upper branch of the coalmine around Mont coal in the West Virginia district.
The morning shift miners were in the process of exchanging shifts with the afternoon shift miners at around 3, essays on utilitarianism. The mining company used certain cars to ferry miners in and out of the mine entrance during the shift reshuffling. On this day, nine of the shift miners had just managed to come out of the cars and while walking towards the exit end of the mine, they heard essays on utilitarianism loud blast of air blow past them. Seven of their fellow miners died instantly and two of them managed to come out alive, but badly injured.
A deadening explosion had cleaved through the underground coalmine and unfortunately trapped an unidentified number of shift miners inside the mine. Reports later concluded that during the massive explosion, approximately 61 miners of the Massey Energy Company working underground had perished inside the mine.
The strong hurricane could barely allow the fellow shift miners to rescue others at the juncture of the incidence, and this aspect probably might have required rescue experts. Recue teams appeared at around 6. Although little equipped with oxygen tanks and masks, the tanks possessed little oxygen that limited the required air supply. The rescue teams did little to contain the situation as it forced them to enter the mine in turns.
Explosive gas methane and carbon monoxide elongated the rescue time. Government reports indicated that Massey Energy Company had received several warnings, essays on utilitarianism, almost 50 times in the prior month alone, essays on utilitarianism, over violation of employee workplace safety.
Conventionally, human beings wish to experience good essays on utilitarianism of pleasure and contentment, essays on utilitarianism, but they are normally contemptuous to suffering and any form of torment. Philosophers believe that rightness or wrongness results from consequences of certain actions and this aspect has long possessed a significant contribution to the understanding of utilitarianism, essays on utilitarianism.
During the post-enlightenment period in the West, utilitarian ethics as normative ethics were to form the blueprint for the long desired social justice in the West and philosophers consider it as the background of the modern moral philosophy. According to Bentham, man should be capable of living a life of pleasure with minimal suffering and that which only seems impossible to avoid.
Stuart Mill further comprehended the utilitarian idea by explaining that cultural, intellectual, and even spiritual pleasures are essays on utilitarianism valuable than the physical pleasures. Utilitarianism empathizes that proper cause of action is the one responsible for maximizing utility or efficiency and philosophers like GE Moore insisted that no one could formulate a essays on utilitarianism conception of good.
After Bentham, Stewart, and Moore, successive economist-driven philosophers concluded that the ultimate good of utilitarianism should entail satisfaction of preferences and people should choose their own intrinsic value.
Basing its principles on normative ethical essays on utilitarianism, the ethical decision making process seems quite straightforward. However, most critics on the utilitarian moral theory of the Bentham version of utilitarianism rest upon the notion that it is difficult to determine satisfaction of choice. Although the story of death at Massey Energy Company may prove challenging to understand where the concept of utilitarian theory interconnects, some issues articulated in the case may prove significant.
According to the utilitarianism concept, human beings should enjoy uninterrupted peace, pleasure if possible, and that maximization of happiness goes in hand with the actions of intentions, essays on utilitarianism. One of the areas where utilitarianism proves imperative is where it contributes to the essays on utilitarianism that defending an oppressed majority against the few privileged is more virtuously good.
In organizations, employees comprise the largest population and investors are normally few where the latter normally protect the interest of the company and its reputation rather than the essays on utilitarianism of employees. Employers and especially leaders who engage directly with workers and understand their sentiments and problems essays on utilitarianism the moral obligation of workplace duty of care to protect the welfare of employees.
Essays on utilitarianism leadership is part of ethical business practices and it entails instilled democracy. In the wide sense of moral soundness, good leadership associates with good ethics where integrity, transparency, and moral obligations related to competence, justice, duty, and the great goodness Ciulla, Since the leadership of Don Blankenship, essays on utilitarianism, the company persistently aroused considerable ethical dilemmas and fined millions of money regularly for violation of federal safety standards and environmental disasters that emerged from unethical business practices.
The foremost portion of business ethics understands the theory of rights as one of the core principles in the five-item ethical positions that deem essential in the understanding of moral business practices Gardiner, The rights theory serves based on positions of justice and rights that consider moral leadership as that which entails just treatment and respect towards individual rights The rights theory of business ethics rests upon the notion that all individuals possess the right towards life and thus they should be treated with the highest respect and dignity required, essays on utilitarianism.
Ciulla assumes that since people can barely foresee the repercussions of their actions, moral judgment should entail proper application of moral principles and not upon the contingency of outcomes. Morals in individuals play a significant role and individuals should independently use their essays on utilitarianism behaviors in attaining their purpose without harming others Shoemaker, essays on utilitarianism, Rights theory holds that any individual or business purposes should not subject other humans to any form of mistreatment.
This position goes down to ethical business practices where in the context of the rights ethical approach, employees should receive maximum respect, dignity, and protection from any form of physical, emotional, or psychological harm coming from their jobs. Organizations and their leadership should thus uphold the required business ethical principles that consider human rights as part of their core ideology of the business foundations.
Under the rights philosophy, essays on utilitarianism, four main rights include privileges, claims, powers, and immunities bestowed on individuals Arnold et al, essays on utilitarianism. Claims involve the right of individuals to enjoy protection against any form of harm or paternalism. Immunity is the right over individual normative situation.
The protection of workers as per the formal labor regulations in the US and the rights ethical principles are solely the responsibility of the employer whilst employees are in the course of duty Noda, Ethical leadership should consider the fundamental rights, freedom, and protection of employees as an integral issue in the company and take it as a moral responsibility not due to coercion.
Employees should enjoy favorable working conditions and companies should never subject employees to any form of humiliation at the expense of corporate gain Arnold et al. Management in the Massey Energy Company had intentionally violated mining principles including safety violations as stipulated by the MSHA, essays on utilitarianism, thus putting employees susceptible to harm. Massey and its Upper Big Branch consistently remained insensitive to environmental precautions and mismanaged the coal slurry that contained toxic impurities.
Despite advice, there were cracks and faults running through the mine walls that predisposed workers to workplace risks. The rights ethical approach assumes that it is the moral and professional responsibility of the management and its company to consider the safety of workers and provide them with appropriate protection against any form of physical or psychological harm.
The storyline of the explosion indicated that the rescue team appeared at the scene some hours after the explosion, meaning that the company had no specialists to counter an explosion. Although the risk was unforeseen, there was even no enough workplace material including oxygen tanks that are essential workplace safety tools.
The welfare of the workers in the Upper Big Branch had long been a subject of confrontation with the government mines and safety body MSHA that indicated the presence of a series of previous safety violations and uncared for fatalities.
In essays on utilitarianism conclusion of their investigations, the Federal Department of Justice Settlement and the MSHA unveiled a report that indicated that although enforceable, the disaster was just a simple avertable coal dust explosion.
Management within organizations has the responsibility of acting ethically upright in defense of the majority employees and all people should undertake their practice with moral consciousness of understanding that their actions are morally right Gardiner, Morally virtuous leaders are competent as they act or undertake their jobs in the right way.
Massey and the Upper Big Branch had little respect and consideration over the concerns and immunity rights as per the ethical theory that enables employees to have certain powers over a normative situation. Previous records in indicated similar problems at the company. The need to live a life of justice has been among the contemporary matters especially in organizations where moral leadership is essential.
Employees and even civilians are constantly seeking justice and fairness essays on utilitarianism all forms of living including in their professional lives as well as their social lives. Among the five-item ethical positions identified in ethical leadership and business practices is the justice theory, which presumes that individuals should be treated with the highest dignity and accorded what they deserve in the most desirable manner.
The justice theory is one of the business ethics theories that essays on utilitarianism critical to mistreatment and injustice treatments of persons especially in organizations. Justice as an ethical approach in the leadership and business practices is where individuals receive equal treatment in the society regardless of their creed, essays on utilitarianism background, professional rank, or even their social essays on utilitarianism. Also known as fairness ethical business practice, essays on utilitarianism, it condemns acts of prejudice, favoritism, isolation, essays on utilitarianism, segregation, and unfair compensation among workers.
The principles of justice ethical approach in business organizations have evolved since the Aristotle era and they assume that individuals, essays on utilitarianism, including workers, should receive equal treatment unless they partially differ in significantly uncontrollable manner that seem imperative to the underway situation Arnold et al.
In organizations, this ethical approach holds that justice may be in the form of distributive justice, retributive justice, or even compensatory justice all in which social justice and equal dignity are core subjects. Distributive justice entails equal distribution of benefits and burdens among the involved society or organizational members.
Retributive or corrective justice means that organizational members receive punishment or correction in a fair and justified manner and organizations should punish members depending on the set rules and regulations, but not on biased terms. Compensatory justice entails employees or members of a certain society receive compensatory benefits in the most justifiable manner and not in any form of favoritism or preferential treatment over the workers involved in any tragedy.
Massey Company had not only violated the ethical business standards and the federal government legal stipulations of the MSHA, essays on utilitarianism, but the constant problems described entail some significant breach of justice in organizations. Justice and fairness entail treating individuals with the desired dignity and equity, essays on utilitarianism, something that the Massey Company and its Upper Big Branch undermined. Essays on utilitarianism all the workers underwent similar situations as from the development of the story, exposing workers of organizations to hazardous working situations entails a considerable breach to denied justice.
Arnold et al. Although justice theory and its principles may focus entirely on the relationship between workers and the way an organization ensures equity amongst them, looking at the direct relationship between the miners and the Massey Company is integral. The company was faulty in failing to ensure that its business practices followed federal state regulations and ethical business standards that intended to protect the welfare of the employees.
This aspect contrasted the notion of ethical business practices that percepts that organizations should undertake their businesses morally by ensuring that they preserve justice, essays on utilitarianism, employee freedom, and safeguard human dignity Ciulla, Justice and fair practice include a relationship between employees and employers, and employees and employees as well, something that is undisputable in the justice theory.
In the fire tragedy of JanuaryMassey Company and its Upper Big Branch failed to fix the conveyor belt that caused fire, there were accumulations of combustible materials, and there was the absence of carbon monoxide monitors. Carefulness in business practice is one of the business principles considered essential in the moral philosophy.
Essays on utilitarianism Shoemaker postulates, growth in the legal frameworks governing societies, communities, and even nations have resulted in considerable influences on how corporate business view legal issues.
Philosophers argue that ethical business practices may even not require theories of justice, utility, or even rights, but ethical practices may only require ethical leadership where passion is intrinsic Ciulla, essays on utilitarianism, Contemporary theorists, who consider caring theory as the most appropriate approach in business ethics, have noticed that since justice, rights, essays on utilitarianism, and utility all come from laws and regulations, which should be impartial or impersonal, they undermine the self-dependency of ethical behavior, which should be solely innate Noda, This perception brings understanding of the development of the care theory and its principles, which have been paramount in the context of business ethics and its real meaning to the welfare of employees and success of organizations.
Developed by the feminist ethicists, essays on utilitarianism, the subject of ethics of care is increasingly becoming essential with human social and professional relationships, essays on utilitarianism.
The theory of care postulates that individuals should relate within the ethics of care where moral significant and individual ethical behavior are fundamental elements of building dependencies and relationships in human life Noda, From the normative perspective, care ethics maintain that mutual relationship exists when there is wellbeing of caregivers and the care receivers within the networks of social relationships Noda, The ethics of care stipulate that essays on utilitarianism should be capable of, if necessary, meeting the demands of others and themselves in a mutual rapport.
It builds the intrinsic motivation of unforced and voluntary care for those in the vulnerable groups and desperately dependent on us Noda, The principles of ethics of care appreciate that human beings, as an interdependent beings possessing the values of caring relationships, develop ethical behaviors from family backgrounds and moral values of emotions such as empathy and benevolence are essential. Perhaps among the most practicable theories that fit perfectly in the case of death tragedy at Massey Energy Company is the care theory that presents the realm intentions of ethical business practices, essays on utilitarianism.
Under the professional ethics of business practice, all employers have the responsibility to take care of all their employees while in their course of duty. Care of the company should not be biased on the racial status, professional rank, essays on utilitarianism, and even creed differences.
It was the duty of care for the employer of Massey to protect and care for the miners drilling oil. The Massey Energy Company and its Upper Big branch lacked considerable care of its miners at it breached rules and regulations and even violated workplace safety rules. Business ethics involve following business principles that entail morality in leadership as well as in several other aspects of businesses.
PHILOSOPHY - Ethics: Utilitarianism, Part 1 [HD]
, time: 4:31Utilitarianism by John Stuart Mill
Great Research Essays Online. We are the preeminent internet publisher of reference essays and research papers providing students, scholars, and the intellectually curious with unlimited access to information on the web John Stuart Mill () was an English philosopher and economist. He wrote one of his most famous essays, Utilitarianism, in Utilitarianism is a moral and legal theory, with origins in classical philosophy, that was famously propagated in the 18th and 19th centuries by Jeremy Bentham Though originally published in , this is still a seminal work in the history of utilitarianism. Hamburger, Joseph. ‘Religion and “On Liberty.”’ In A Cultivated Mind: Essays on J.S. Mill Presented to John M. Robson, edited by Michael Laine, Toronto: Univ. of Toronto Press, Harrison, Ross
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