Before they made any decision, they should hold an ethical meeting about the improvement of fuel tank, if they would change their mind by paying more then people would not have to die. In this case, I think Cost-benefit analysis should not be use in this case, because it is very unethical and inhumanity to determine a number of life that have to sacrifice, just because the unwillingness of Ford to pay more for the adjustments of fuel systems. When applying cost benefit analysis in this case study, Ford will either improve the fuel tank or chosen not to go ahead with the fuel tank adjustment, then at least 180 will burn to death, 180 will be injuries, and 2100 vehicles will be burned. Ford was making a decision based on numbers that seems to be right, but it is allowing a certain number of people to die or be injured even though they could have prevented it with paying more for the alteration of fuel tank. This seems to be a disregard for human life.
Britain built their Enlightenment on ‘social virtues’, not reason. They believed ‘social virtues’ (sympathy, altruism, kindness, etc.) made a society stable. They did not refuse reason, but simply used it as a way to achieve the end. The British made reasonable reforms within their society, and made their society better through their reforms.
Summary of Utilitarianism Utilitarianism is a teleological theory as it looks at the consequences which also makes it a consequentialist theory. It focuses on the greatest good for the greatest number of people. Jeremy Bentham, one of the main ethicists that who believed in utilitarianism, believed that happiness is the greatest good. He defined happiness as pleasure minus pain. John Stuart Mill was a hedonist and accepted that happiness was of great importance and stressed that happiness is more important than pleasure.
Dai Phan Ann Modzelewski English 101 12/3/14 The various Viewpoints regarding Education funding In the words of Josh Freedman, “higher education is viewed, as great equalizer that leads to social mobility. But selective colleges have long been accused of perpetuating class divides, rather than blurring them” (Freedman 1). Education is a key institution in today’s society. Education since history has been used as the tool for the eradication of poverty that translates to a better future prospect for the students. For many years education was viewed as the greatest equalizer in achieving society’s expectations of life.
Both were published in 1776. Both were revolutionary documents, the one signaling the birth of a nation, the other the birth of the modern science of economics. Both were reactions to the heavy hand of the state, the one to the British Crown's interference with the right of economic and political self-determination, the other to mercantilistic controls on business enterprise. Both documents stress the importance of the individual in society, and both show great concern for individual liberty. Both Smith and the Founding Fathers shared the same vision of a good society, one that would allow maximum personal freedom while harnessing the powerful force of individual self-interest to the interests of society as a whole.
In one of the abstracts in Bentham’s Principles of Morality and Legislation, Bentham states that the judgement or criterion of good and evil is balanced between the happiness of individuals and the happiness of the community (Utilitarian Philosophy, 2010). On the other hand, consequentialism in utilitarianism is based on the fact that human beings are judged based on consequences. In other words, “an action must be judged for its consequences on the happiness of the largest number of people” (Utilitarian Philosophy, 2010). To be more specific, according to
The purpose of this analysis was from one point of view only a preliminary step toward a more adequate interpretation of man's moral beliefs. Even in the History of England, which was written at a later date, there is presented an abundance of evidence to show that it is the morals of a nation which more than any other single factor determines its destiny. The significance of moral standards is emphasized again in the Essays on moral and political topics, which were so influential in establishing Hume's reputation as a scholar and an author. Finally, in the two books which he wrote on the subject of religion, the implications with reference to morals are especially prominent. The
(2) Could economic inequality actually be beneficial to the greater good of society? Through careful analysis of classical and contemporary moral distributive justice theories I have found it necessary to address this question from both a societal perspective and from an individual perspective. I believe that, as a whole, a just society has two distributive obligations to its members. First, society should provide its members with the
A famous French sociologist Emile Durkheim observed that economists believe that it is a literally essential process on the way to prosperity. They even see it as “the supreme law of human societies and the condition of their progress” (39). Durkheim believed that there are some needs that the division of labor satisfies. Maybe the most important one is that difference attracts people in some ways. People seek in others what they lack in themselves, and this leads to the true exchange of goods and services (Jones 31).
It moves beyond the scope of one's own interests and takes into account the interests of others. In this essay I will examine the Ethical Theory of Utility, its background and its influence upon society to determine if Utilitarianism can be expressed in the phrase “ The greatest good for the greatest number.” U·til·i·tar·i·an·ism 1 [Columbia Encyclopedia] Noun: • The doctrine that actions are right if they are useful or for the benefit of a majority. • The doctrine that an action is right insofar as it promotes happiness, and that the greatest happiness of the greatest number should be... Background Jeremy Bentham was the father of Utilitarianism, he was of the left liberal view, influenced by the French revolution and by many enlightenment thinkers, especially empiricists such as John Locke and David Hume.