Customer Perception on Buying House
Principles of Ethical Reasoning
Adapted from Business Ethics, Concepts and Cases: Manuel Velasquez (2006) Prentice Hall
Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism is a general term for any view that holds that actions and policies should be evaluated on the basis of the benefits and costs they will impose on society. In any situation, the “right” action or policy is the one that will produce the greatest net benefits or the lowest net costs (when all alternatives have only net costs).
Many businesses rely on such utilitarian cost-benefit analyses, and maintain that the socially responsible course to take is the utilitarian one with the lowest net costs.
Jeremy Bentham founded traditional utilitarianism. His version of the theory assumes that we can measure and add the quantities of benefits produced by an action and subtract the measured quantities of harm it will cause, allowing us to determine which action has the most benefits or lowest total costs and is therefore moral. The utility Bentham had in mind was not the greatest benefit for the person taking the action, but rather the greatest benefit for all involved. For Bentham: "An action is right from an ethical point of view if and only if the sum total of utilities produced by that act is greater than the sum total of utilities produced by any other act the agent could have performed in its place."
Also, it is important to note that only one action can have the lowest net costs and greatest net benefits.
To determine what the moral thing to do on any particular occasion might be, there are three considerations to follow:
1. You must determine what alternative actions are available. 2. You must estimate the direct and indirect costs and benefits the action would produce for all involved in the foreseeable future. 3. You must choose the alternative that produces the greatest sum total of utility.
Utilitarianism is attractive to many because it matches the views we tend to hold
Adapted from Business Ethics, Concepts and Cases: Manuel Velasquez (2006) Prentice Hall
Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism is a general term for any view that holds that actions and policies should be evaluated on the basis of the benefits and costs they will impose on society. In any situation, the “right” action or policy is the one that will produce the greatest net benefits or the lowest net costs (when all alternatives have only net costs).
Many businesses rely on such utilitarian cost-benefit analyses, and maintain that the socially responsible course to take is the utilitarian one with the lowest net costs.
Jeremy Bentham founded traditional utilitarianism. His version of the theory assumes that we can measure and add the quantities of benefits produced by an action and subtract the measured quantities of harm it will cause, allowing us to determine which action has the most benefits or lowest total costs and is therefore moral. The utility Bentham had in mind was not the greatest benefit for the person taking the action, but rather the greatest benefit for all involved. For Bentham: "An action is right from an ethical point of view if and only if the sum total of utilities produced by that act is greater than the sum total of utilities produced by any other act the agent could have performed in its place."
Also, it is important to note that only one action can have the lowest net costs and greatest net benefits.
To determine what the moral thing to do on any particular occasion might be, there are three considerations to follow:
1. You must determine what alternative actions are available. 2. You must estimate the direct and indirect costs and benefits the action would produce for all involved in the foreseeable future. 3. You must choose the alternative that produces the greatest sum total of utility.
Utilitarianism is attractive to many because it matches the views we tend to hold