Ford Pinto
Utilitarianism and the Ford Pinto Case The Ford Motor Company manufactured a subcompact vehicle called the Ford Pinto during the years from 1970 to 1980. The Ford Pinto was advertised successfully to consumers and The Ford Motor Company was rewarded with sales for the Ford Pinto in the hundreds of thousands. Was the reward worth the cost? The Ford Motor Company knowingly engineered the Ford Pinto with a design flaw in the placement of the gas tank and a design flaw in the connection of the fuel filler pipe. The Ford Pinto’s gas tank was placed immediately behind the rear axle of the vehicle instead of directly above it. There was only none inches between the gas tank and the axle and with bolts on the axle being in close proximity of the
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Ford Motor Company’s executive’s lack of reasoning would not comply with the rule of goodwill and duty and therefore that lack of reasoning puts them in the same position as their consumers by making the Ford Motor Company executives equally susceptible to extreme physical injury and the possibility of death. The decision of Ford Motor Company to produce defective Ford Pintos was immoral as Ford Motor Company’s decision was solely to generate profit for the company. There is no sense, when applied universally, that consumers of the Ford Pinto would purchase automobiles they knew were defective and without those sales, Ford Motor Company would not see the gain of profit and would therefore fail the universal …show more content…
When making a decision using the Utilitarianism approach, the decision maker will review the consequences affecting the highest total of consumers and will base it on whether or not Ford Motor Company’s decision did the least amount of harm and ensured the greatest amount of good for the greatest amount of people. Based on statistics supplied by Ford Motor Company, a decision might be made that proceeding with the current production design was the most beneficial for the greater good and that the production of the Ford Pinto at the suggested retail price at the time, the fuel economy and compact size was in the best interest of the consumers. On the other
Ford Motor Company’s executive’s lack of reasoning would not comply with the rule of goodwill and duty and therefore that lack of reasoning puts them in the same position as their consumers by making the Ford Motor Company executives equally susceptible to extreme physical injury and the possibility of death. The decision of Ford Motor Company to produce defective Ford Pintos was immoral as Ford Motor Company’s decision was solely to generate profit for the company. There is no sense, when applied universally, that consumers of the Ford Pinto would purchase automobiles they knew were defective and without those sales, Ford Motor Company would not see the gain of profit and would therefore fail the universal …show more content…
When making a decision using the Utilitarianism approach, the decision maker will review the consequences affecting the highest total of consumers and will base it on whether or not Ford Motor Company’s decision did the least amount of harm and ensured the greatest amount of good for the greatest amount of people. Based on statistics supplied by Ford Motor Company, a decision might be made that proceeding with the current production design was the most beneficial for the greater good and that the production of the Ford Pinto at the suggested retail price at the time, the fuel economy and compact size was in the best interest of the consumers. On the other