ETHICALETHICALETHICALETHICAL PRINCIPLESPRINCIPLESPRINCIPLESPRINCIPLES

UTILITARIANISM Conceived in the 19 th century by Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill,Conceived in the 19 th century by Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, the most popular in business: the cost- benefit analysis in business is a form of this theory.the most popular in business: the cost- benefit analysis in business is a form of this theory. basis for the rightness of an action: consequences or effect on all persons affected (including the agent).basis for the rightness of an action: consequences or effect on all persons affected (including the agent).

An action is right if and only if the sum total benefits produced by that act is greater than the sum total benefits produced by any other act the agent could have performed in its place. UTILITARIANISM

Two main limitations 1. In its traditional form, it is difficult to use when dealing with values that are difficult and perhaps impossible to measure quantitatively. UTILITARIANISM

2. It ignores the questions of rights (individual entitlements to freedom of choice and to well being) and justice (how benefits and burdens are distributed among people). Rule utilitarianism (vs. case utilitarianism) tries to answer this by proposing the evaluation of rules instead of cases. UTILITARIANISM Two main limitations

the individual’s entitlement to something.the individual’s entitlement to something. In contrast to legal rights, moral or human rights are derived from a system of moral standards that specify that all human beings are permitted, empowered to do something, or entitled to have something done for them. In contrast to legal rights, moral or human rights are derived from a system of moral standards that specify that all human beings are permitted, empowered to do something, or entitled to have something done for them. RIGHTS

The basis of moral rights is Immanuel Kant’s Categorical Imperative, which, for our purposes, has two formulations:

First formulation: “I ought never to act except in such a way that I can also will that my maxim should become a universal law.”

An action is morally right for a person in a certain situation if, and only if, the person’s reason for carrying out the action is a reason that he or she would be willing to have every person act on, in any similar situation.

Two criteria, therefore, are necessary for determining moral right and wrong: UNIVERSALIZABILITY UNIVERSALIZABILITY REVERSIBILITY REVERSIBILITY (similar to the Golden Rule: Do unto others what you would want them do unto you.) (similar to the Golden Rule: Do unto others what you would want them do unto you.)

Second Formulation: “Act in such a way that you always treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, never simply as a means, but always at the same time as an end.”

An action is morally right for a person, if, and only if, in performing the action, the person does not use others merely as a means for advancing his or her own interest, but also both respects and develops their capacity to choose freely for themselves.

“Justice consists…in treating equals equally and unequals unequally, and in giving each person his due.” JUSTICE & FAIRNESS

Three categories of justice and fairness:

a. Compensatory Justice: concerns the just way in compensating someone for a past injustice or what he/she lost when wronged by others.

b. Retributive justice: consists in the just imposition of punishment and penalties on those who do wrong. This is related to procedural justice, referring to fair decision procedures, practices, agreements.

c. Distributive Justice: involves the fair distribution of benefits and burdens.

When issues concerning the common good are at stake, distributive justice comes into play. The principle of distributive justice simply states: Individuals who are similar in all respects relevant to the kind of treatment in question should be given similar benefits and burdens, even if they are dissimilar in other irrelevant respects; and individuals who are dissimilar in a relevant respect ought to be treated dissimilarly, in proportion to their dissimilarity.

4. VIRTUE ETHICS Virtues are dispositions, attitudes, habits that form the character of a person, developing his or her highest potentials. Aristotle held that virtues are habits that enable a person to act in accordance with reason, and acting in accordance with reason is choosing the mean between the two extremes, the extreme of excess and the extreme of lack.

An action is morally right if in carrying out the action the agent exercises, exhibits, or develops a morally virtuous character, and it is morally wrong to the extent that by carrying out the action the agent exercises, exhibits, or develops a morally vicious character.

Virtue ethics then determines the rightness or wrongness of an action “by examining the kind of character the action tends to produce or the kind of a character that tends to produce the action.”

5. CARE One criticism of Kohlberg comes from Carol Gilligan, a psychologist who studied the moral development of women. For Gilligan, the moral development for women is marked by progress towards more adequate ways of caring. One criticism of Kohlberg comes from Carol Gilligan, a psychologist who studied the moral development of women. For Gilligan, the moral development for women is marked by progress towards more adequate ways of caring. (Most ethicists recently have pointed out the ethics of caring is not only for women but also for men.)

An ethics of care emphasizes two moral demands:

a. We should preserve and nurture those concrete and valuable relationships we have with specific persons who have become part of our lives and have formed us as we are.

b. We should care for those with whom we are concretely related by attending to their particular needs, values, desires, well-being as seen from their own personal perspective, and by responding to these needs, values, desires, well-being, especially of those who are vulnerable and dependent on our care.

Two important points: 1.An ethics of care should encompass larger systems of relationship leading to a “communitarian ethic”. 2. An ethics of care provides a corrective to other ethical principles that emphasize impartiality and universality.

In Summary, when making a moral decision, ask the following questions:

1. Does the action maximize social benefits and minimize social injuries?

2. Is the action consistent with the moral rights of those affected?

3. Will the action bring just distribution of benefits and burdens?

4. What kind of person will one become if one makes this decision?

5. Does the action exhibit care for the well being of those who are closely related to or dependent on oneself?