Module 2 eth 501 case (Utilitarianism)

Essay Instructions:

module-2-eth-501-case n the Module 2 Case, we will apply utilitarian ethics to an organizational problem. In order to be best prepared and perform well on the case assignments, please be sure that you complete the Background Information readings and the SLP before completing your Case. Required Reading: Read the following excerpt concerning the philosopher Jeremy Bentham, the father of utilitarian ethics:http://plato(dot)stanford(dot)edu/entries/utilitarianism-history/#JerBen Please read the following case study from the Markkala Center for Applied Ethics: http://www(dot)scu(dot)edu/ethics/dialogue/candc/cases/supplier.html Here is the actual outcome: http://www(dot)scu(dot)edu/ethics/dialogue/candc/cases/supplier_comments.html Assignment: Please write a 5-6 page paper in which you address the following: Drawing upon utilitarian ethics, discuss what you believe the supplier/transistor company should do. Keys to the Assignment: The key aspects of this assignment that should be covered in your paper include the following: - What do you believe is/are the key utilitarian ethical problem(s) confronting the supplier/transistor company in this Case? - What advice do you believe Jeremy Bentham would have given the supplier company? - Apply Steps A through D of the Utility Test to the above case. Be sure that you carefully document each step in the process. - Choose one of the following five tests: Rights Test, Exceptions Test, Choices Test, Justice Test, or the Common Good Test. Click here: http://ethicsops(dot)com/EthicsTestsLinks.aspx. Now, apply the test you've chosen to the above case. In your paper, be sure that you have fully discussed your decisions at each step. - Compare and contrast the results you have obtained from the Utility Test with the additional test you have selected. Which of the two tests is most informative, and why? Assignment Expectations: Your paper will be evaluated on the following seven criteria: - Precision - Does the paper address the question(s) or task(s)? - Breadth - Is the full breadth of the subject (i.e., the Keys to the Assignment) addressed? - Depth - Does the paper address the topic in sufficient depth and include the background readings and other background resources as references? - Critical thinking - Is the subject thought about critically (i.e., accurately, logically, relevantly, and precisely)? - Clarity - Is the writing clear and are the concepts articulated properly? Are paraphrasing and synthesis of concepts the primary means of responding to the questions or are points conveyed through excessive use of quotations? - Organization - Is the paper well written? Are the grammar, spelling, and vocabulary appropriate for graduate-level work? Are headings included in all papers longer than two pages? - Referencing (citations and references) - Does the paper include citations and quotation marks where appropriate? Are the references from the background reading and assignment present and properly cited? Are all the references listed in the bibliography present and referred to via citation? Tips and Suggestions: 1) Your paper will be graded on the following: - Your ability to apply utilitarianism to the decision faced by the transistor/supplier company; - Your ability to apply the Utility Test and your choice of the five tests to the problem confronting the supplier; - The extent to which you have logically and critically compared and contrasted the results from the two tests; and - Your assessment as to which of the two tests best informs the Case. 2) Please do not simply restate the facts of the Case. Instead, be sure to analyze! Critical analysis is key at the graduate level. 3) Remember to follow the Well-Written Paper guidelines

Essay Sample Content Preview:

Utilitarianism
Name
University
Date
Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism is the moral doctrine that states; people should always act to produce the highest possible balance of right or good over wrong or bad for any person affected by any person's actions. Utilitarianism is considered to be one of the most powerful and convincing methods to normative ethics in the history of philosophy. Generally utilitarianism holds that the morally right action is the action that generates the most right or good. One of the ways to spell out this is to note that utilitarianism is a form of consequence; i.e. the right action is understood clearly in terms of the consequence produced hence one needs to maximize the good (Brandt, 1995).
The supplier faces a number of problems and issues with relation to utilitarianism. There are also issues with supply of transistors to the company making pacemakers; these utilitarian ethical problems are;
* The company producing pacemakers use their transistors to as a part for the pace makers that have not functioned well and have caused a lot of patients who use them to die. They partly have contributed to the deaths that have occurred indirectly because of being a supplier of the transistors being used in the pace makers.
* Being the only supplier of the transistors at the time, failure to supply the transistors to the company to make pacemakers will also cause deaths to patients who have weak hearts and would have benefitted from the using of the pacemakers.
* They also have shareholders in the company who have put them as custodians of their investment/interests. If law suits are to be brought against the transistor supplier the investors' interests would be damaged and a lot of loss would be incurred.
Bentham viewed the humans were ruled by two principles, these being pleasure and pain. He stated that we pursue pleasure but seek to avoid pain in all that we do. He came up with the principle of utility which defined what moral obligation was while referencing to the greatest happiness of the greatest number of people who are affected by performance of an action (Brandt, 1995). He would advise the supplier to begin by looking at the pleasure and pain caused by the pacemakers. The action value caused by the pacemakers should also be observed. This will involve looking at a number of elements: how strong the pleasure or pain is; how long will both last; what is the certainty of their being pleasure or pain; to what degree does the action contribute towards experiencing pain or pleasure; will the action lead to further pleasure or pain in the future; and the number of people affected by the action (Harris, Pritchard & Rabins, 2009).
Once the above has been weighed, he will more advise them to continue producing transistors for the pacemakers. This is because though pain is being experienced by the loss of lives of some patients who use the pacemakers; it has helped a lot of other people who would otherwise have not been alive if pacemakers were not there. Also a lot of lives have been prolonged because many people would have died early if the pacemakers were not being manufactured. The law suits and loss on shareholders that may arise from continual suppliers of transistors due to contributory negligence on their part, does not outweigh the happiness of the number of patients kept alive by the pacemakers and families. These families are happy to have their loved ones by them longer (Sheng, 2004).
The common good test applies in this situation, with both the patients, supplier of transistors and company manufacturing pacemakers advancing it. Producing the pacemakers will be of good to a lot of people. This is because the lives of a l...

Updated on January 26, 2024

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