If the type of personal accountability discussed in your essay was implemented in certain markets as proposed,
If the type of personal accountability discussed in your essay was implemented in certain markets as proposed,
The case of “The Schiavos” is focused primarily on one member of the family, which is Terri Schiavo. Terri had been in a coma for 13 years. Although, “no one is completely sure what happened but the best guess is she suffered a heart attack” (Pierce, 64) presumably caused by her bulimia. Due to the severity of her heart attack, it left Terri with severe brain damaged which in turn left her in a persistent vegetative state which leaves a person showing no awareness of one’s environment. Terri’s husband, Michael Schiavo, contended that there was no hope for Terri to recover and that he felt it was his wife's wish that she not be kept alive through life support. Michael Schiavo wanted her feeding tube removed, after which Terri would slowly die. The parents of Terri however, felt that Terri “should be fed indefinitely” (Pierce, 64). Thus, creating a moral battle between her parents, and her husband as to whether or not Terri Schiavo should continue to live in her vegetative state.…
The main rule of utilitarianism is to perform the one action that will provide the greatest amount of pleasure and the least amount of pain to the greatest number of people. In our case study, one would think the choice is quite easy, if we let go of Gary, we are providing no happiness for anyone and a great deal of pain to his family and friends and to ourselves. However, the one person that will get pleasure from this scenario is perhaps Gary, who is suffering. According to the utilitarian theory, the right action to perform would be to do everything in our power to save Gary, because if we save him there would be a lot more people that will be happy then if we were to let him die. There is only one person who would get pleasure from letting Gary go, and that is Gary himself. One could argue that the person watching Gary suffer will provide that person with a great amount of pain, but if we were to let Gary go, as painful as it may be to watch our friend die and be the one responsible, we may find ourselves happy that he did not suffer. The Greatest Happiness Principle suggest that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to promote the reverse of happiness. In our case study, saving Gary would promote happiness to ourselves and friends and family of Gary, letting Gary succumb to his injuries and letting go will promote the reverse of happiness to ourselves and friends and family of Gary. According to Mill, pleasures are qualitatively different, depending on their origin, meaning some pleasures should be counted more heavily. Does the pleasure we will receive in saving Gary and watching him live outweigh the pleasure Gary might receive by not suffering and dying a quick death. According to…
In the article, “Strengths and Weaknesses of Utilitarianism”, Louis P. Pojman explained the grounds on which utilitarianism has been attacked and showed some possible response to its defenders which imply his positive attitude towards utilitarianism [1] . In order to argue that thesis, Pojman’s one important premise is the response to the no-rest objection. He believed that the agent should aim at maximizing his or her own happiness as well as other people’s happiness and is best not to worry much about the need of those not in our primary circle.[1] .…
This essay aims to argue the views of two different theorist, Jeremy Bentham and Immanuel Kant, with regards to their views on moral worth of an action. The idea of good and bad creates heated debates among many, but this essay will successfully unravel the layers of Bentham’s theory of Utilitarianism and his belief that all our motives are driven by pleasure and pain. While arguing Kant’s opposing argument that moral worth of an act revolves around democratic attitudes, and that moral truths are founded on reasons that is logical to all people. When one breaks down both theories, it occurs that Kant’s theory comes out to be the more sensible one in numerous aspects.…
Fraud is generally defined as an omission of a material fact or a misrepresentation of the truth, intended for personal gain or to cause loss to another party. The act of fraud is most commonly committed in order to deprive another of money, property, or a legal right. Fraud is considered criminal activity, and anyone who is affected by a fraudulent act has the ability to file a lawsuit to collect damages. J.C. Penny was accused of marking up the prices on their products and then discounting them to the original price in order to trick customers into thinking they were receiving heavy discounts and better deals. J.C. Penny committed this act for their own personal gain, and in doing so, they deprived their customers of money that they would…
Teleology, an explanation of phenomena by the purpose they serve rather than postulated causes, has found its place in the construction of many systems of morality such as John Stuart Mill’s theory of Utilitarianism. In teleological approaches to morality, questions of right and wrong, or the notion what an individual ought to do, are determined by the consequences of a given action. One thinker to reject this idea of consequentialism was Immanuel Kant. In his Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, Kant endeavors to establish a system of ethics that has no trace of the empirical nature of utilitarianism. To him, “the moral worth of an action does not lie in the effect expected from it and so too does not lie in any principle of action that needs to borrow its motive from this expected effect” (Groundwork, 56). Rather than determine moral worth based on cause and effect, Kant seeks to establish a supreme moral principle that is universal in nature, lacking any inkling of desires or inclinations that are subjective to the experiences of the individual. This principle must precede any sort of empirical knowledge, and must therefore be based upon a priori intuitions of our reason. Mill, on the other hand, refutes the idea of this a priori basis of ethics. In his work, Utilitarianism, Mill argues that moral worth must be determined on the bases of a fundamental principle based upon learned experience, namely the Principle of Utility. Under said principle, actions are to be judged on the nature of their outcome, not on their relation to a supreme imperative. In this paper I will reconstruct Kant’s critique of teleology in moral matters, followed by a response to said critique based on the principles that Mill lays out in Utilitarianism. Ultimately, I will show that, while Mill’s defense is valid, Kant’s minimal and universal system of morality provides a far more sensible approach to examining how humans ought to act.…
According to Kant, he believes that the only thing unconditionally good is good will. Good will is the idea of people having to do ones moral duty. Kant’s ethical theories are based off of the categorical imperatives. Categorical imperatives, as stated during class, act only on those rules that you can rationally will to be universal. In response to Kant’s theory, I believe that good will is not the only thing that is unconditionally good. I believe this because there will be many instances in life where having a good will can lead to tragic situations.…
1. What are the key differences between utilitarianism, deontology, natural law ethics, and virtue theory?…
In this essay we will discuss what Kant’s and a utilitarian’s view on insider trading would be. As we have discussed in previous essays, Kant believed that moral rules could be known through reason and not just by observation (Shaw and Barry 69). For me this is the basis of all decisions that we make and why I would support Kant’s point of view on insider trading. Utilitarianism concentrates on producing the greatest amount of happiness and using it as a standard to determine if an action is right or wrong (Shaw and Barry 62). Utilitarianism requires too much concentration on individual aspects of what the greatest happiness is and basing moral standards around them.…
The difference between utilitarianism and relativism is that in utilitarianism, something is good when it does the good for the most people. For example killing thousands of people to save billions. This is in reference to when the United States dropped the atomic bomb on Japan. It killed thousands of people, but it was for the good of the world, and ended World War II. Another example from our textbook is of the trolley problem, where five people were on the track and the train was headed their way. They would surely be killed if the train continues. However, there is a switch that the train could be diverted into, and one person is on that track. According to utilitarianism, “you would be permitted and required to pull the switch.”…
Utilitarianism and Kant’s respective have different ways for demonstrating whether an act we do is right or wrong. Corresponding to Kant, we should look at our maxims, intentions, of a particular action. Kantians believe “If we are rational, we will each agree to curb our self-interest and cooperate with one another” (Shafer-Landau, Russ 194). In other words, humans are rational beings capable of rational behavior and should not be used purely for self-interest. On the other hand, Utilitarian’s believe that we should do actions that produce the greatest amount of happiness. However, this could associate using people as mere means and lead to the sacrifice of lives for the greater good.…
A utilitarian believes in the action for the good for all people. This would mean that a Utilitarian would agree with the magistrate’s decision on framing the innocent man. The reason behind this agreement is that since the one man being killed is saving lives and saving chaos it makes it ethical, from a utilitarian standpoint. According to utilitarianism one must consider the consequences of a certain action. So in this case the magistrate must weigh the pros and cons of the decision to execute this man. The magistrate must be a utilitarian because he decided to kill the innocent man in an attempt make the majority of people calm. Utilitarian’s also believe in the idea of attaining happiness or pleasure. Therefore making a decision to kill the man the magistrate must believe that it will make everyone happy, making it morally correct in the magistrate’s eyes.…
In A Critique of Utilitarianism, Bernard Williams argues that when following a Utilitarian approach for moral dilemmas, Utilitarianism might have us sacrifice or modify our moral integrity. Williams explains this argument with a hypothetical execution situation with protagonist Jim. Jim, who is a botanical expeditionary, accidentally wanders in the central square of a small South American town. There, he finds twenty Indians tied up in a row, with several armed soldiers standing in front of them. The captain in charge of the soldiers, Pedro, is ready to execute the Indians for protesting against the government. However, Jim is a foreigner and is honored by the captain. Because of this special occasion, Pedro gives Jim the option to shoot and kill one Indian. If Jim accepts, the other nineteen Indians can go free, if not, Pedro will shoot all twenty like intended. The Indians beg Jim to accept the offer and shoot one of them. Now, Jim is faced with a difficult decision whether to shoot one Indian or let Pedro shoot all of them. What should Jim do? It is not sure what the right course of action is, but four different theories could help him decide. These theories are: the Divine Command theory, Cultural Relativism, Kantianism, and Utilitarianism. In this paper, I will present these four theories and their suggestions for Jim’s right course of action, the faults in these theories, and how Utilitarianism is morally correct in this case.…
“Personal responsibility is the willingness to both accept the importance of standards that society establishes for individual behavior and to make strenuous personal efforts to live by those standards. But personal responsibility also means that when individuals fail to meet expected standards, they do not look around for some factor outside themselves to blame. The demise of…
The task that stands before me in this paper is to address two situations and determine the ethical parameters in which a person should act. The two philosophical approaches that I will examine the situations with the Kantian and Utilitarian point of view. Kant deciphers his ethical questions by examining a person's motivation for performing an act regardless of the consequences. A person who utilizes the Kantian view believes that the only pure good is pure human reason without consequences. This pure human reason works without the influence of human emotions and desires. A truly good act as defined by Kant is performed because of an obligation to the categorical imperative. The objectives and personal agendas of the individual performing the act must kept separate and distinct. Utilitarism makes ethical decisions based on the consequences of the action taken. Unlike the Kantian view the motives are not important just the consequences. The action is measured by how much happiness or sadness the action creates. The ideal ethical decision is the one that creates the most happiness and the least amount of sadness. It nearly impossible to have different degrees of freedom since a person would have to experience all the various degrees of freedom to determine what degree of happiness is better than the other. Upon examining the thief who stole from the millionaire Kant would examine the motives of the thief. The thief is stealing for himself regardless of his situation. Even if his family is poor and struggling. The thief is still furthering himself. The reasons for the thief stealing from the wealthy man doesn't matter. Stealing is against the universal law that it is wrong to steal from another person. This applies to everyday life and decision-making occurrences, needs and wants are thrown out the window. Any form of stealing is wrong according to Kant. This is a strong argument because it stands firm in that it is wrong to steal. We are in a society that has laws…