Ashley Frank Utilitarianism

Taylor Spano
PHI 1000C
Prof. Fallon
Research Paper
4/5/16
Ashley Madison
Ashley Madison is a well-known Canadian website that serves as both a social networking site and a dating service. Founded in 2002, it is a company that heavily markets to people who are married or in a relationship and still want to date. Throughout the years it has become one of the most controversial websites that had ignited many discussions on what’s ethical and what’s not. Even after receiving massive attention due to hackers obtaining personal data of current users, Ashley Madison continues its operations of providing nearly forty million users with its services. Although many people would argue what is wrong with the site, many others had made counter arguments
Like any other business, their main goal is very simple and ideal; to increase the satisfaction of customers, maximize their profits and to create more income. The fact that the site still continues to run even after the hack attack to their clients show that they still know how to run their business. Ashley Madison does focus on maximizing the pleasure of their customers through the use of their services and keeps their activities private and secure (Lecture). Of course the reason why it still continues to run is due to the large amounts of revenue that is generated from their customers. Unlike other businesses, Ashley Madison does not follow a moral guideline like one would expect. So for this large company, based on the idea of utilitarianism, it doesn’t really matter for a minority number of people to be negatively affected by their services. As long as it brings about the most happiness or pleasure, then it is ok for the company. To them, the end result is not just being able to fully satisfy their clients, but it’s to be able to make money doing it. For Ashley Madison, it doesn’t matter where the money is coming from or how as long as they’re succeeding. They may be generating money from an act that many would consider immoral, but that’s what their business is about. The company isn’t so concerned with morality and gives their clients the option to fulfill
According to utilitarianism, it holds ideas that in a way to justify the operations of the social networking site. Under this theory, not only does it allow us to think that the end does in fact defend the means, but it also leads us to believe that the action is justifiable as a majority. In the first statement, Ashley Madison is simply putting the goals of society first when they run their business by allowing their customers to sign up to quench their thirst for cheating so they can move on from the affair without the rest of society knowing. Because something minor as adultery is not seen as a major threat to society, the business allows society to redirect its focus on more serious manners that are detrimental to the progression of society’s growth; it’s end result. The second statement also shows how utilitarianism justifies the acts of Ashley Madison with the argument of doing what any business would do; succeeding and making a profit. Its main goal is to thrive and to continue making a profit off their company, despite the lack of morality in question. As long as the end result is them being successful, it doesn’t matter what the minor effects are. That would all be justified by the end