Ethics Theory and Business Practice 2.1 Utilitarianism – Part One Maximizing the Good

aims to introduce consequentialism as a way of evaluating ethics to describe how utilitarians judge the ethicality of an action’s consequences in relation to how much good it causes to explore some contrasting ideas about what is ‘good’ for people and how these might impact on utilitarian evaluation

consequentialism judges the ethicality of decisions and actions in relation to their consequences rather than in relation to their intrinsic rightness see Video Activity 2.1

utilitarianism judges consequences in terms of good and bad so if a decision or an action produces more good than bad, it is ethical http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKQAflZrXpU see Video Activity 2.1

a utilitarian justification for rationalization a company may need to ‘rationalize’ its workforce in order to improve performance some will lose their jobs in this rationalization but others will benefit from the improved performance if more people benefit from the improved performance than suffer from the rationalization, the rationalization is justified on utilitarian grounds

will Ford’s rationalization plan theory in practice will Ford’s rationalization plan maximize the good? see Theory in Practice: Will Ford’s Rationalization Plan Maximize the Good?

what does ‘the good’ consist of? class activity: what do you value above all else; if a Genie were to ask you what one thing you would like more of, what would you ask for? discuss the extent to which the goods identified by the class are a) valued in themselves or b) valued as a means to the achievement of a further valued end refer back to these goods when explaining the three categories on the following slides

three possible responses hedonistic utilitarianism objective-good utilitarianism J.S Mill’s utilitarianism

first response: hedonistic utilitarianism maximizing pleasure/happiness the only thing that we value in its own right is pleasure and the only thing that we seek to avoid in its own right is pain so pleasure must be the ultimate ‘good’ and pain must be the ultimate ‘bad’ therefore, maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain must be the ethically correct thing to do

second response: objective-good utilitarianism pleasure is not the only good indeed, some forms of pleasure are intrinsically bad and some things are good even if they do not bring us pleasure see Lecture Exercise 2.1a use this to distinguish something that is valued for the intrinsic pleasure it brings (1), something that is valued as a means to the ultimate achievement of pleasure (2), and something that is valued as an objective good (3).

some objective goods ask class to identify some physical and intellectual states that might be considered objectively good regardless of heir connection with pleasure

third response: J.S. Mill’s utilitarianism distinguishing higher pleasures from lower pleasures some pleasures are intrinsically superior to others to enjoy higher-order pleasures in the long term, we may need to forego lower-order pleasures in the short term in particular, we may need to cultivate our capacity to appreciate higher-order pleasures

analyses of the good applied to business analysis of the good business it ethical insofar as it … hedonistic utilitarianism causes more pleasure than pain objective-good utilitarianism creates and preserves beautiful things; furthers knowledge and learning, promotes freedom; preserves people’s dignity; encourages those who are associated with the business to realize their full intellectual, cultural and physical potential J.S. Mill’s utilitarianism promotes products and services which develop people’s cultural and intellectual capacities; facilitates employees’ intellectual and cultural development see www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FYUBLBDuXc. This seven-minute video shows a short TV debate on CNN, involving Dr Gail Dines and Stormy Daniels, about the pros and cons of soft-pornography videos. It could be used to augment or to replace the discussion of Spearmint Rhino, which appears in the book.

utilitarianism and ethical employment practices www.youtube.com/watch?v=li4HRGEjaZg see Video Activity 2.2

key points utilitarianism highlights the importance of consequences to business ethics there is more than one way of defining ‘good’ consequences therefore we need to take a comprehensive overview of what the good consists of if we are to apply utilitarianism to business