2 Ethical Principles in Business

Question 1

What does the Utilitarianism state?

Who are the two leading utilitarian theorists?

Answer 1

• actions and policies should be evaluaed on the basis of benefits and costs they will impose on society
  -> The only morally right action is that where utility is greatest by comparison to the utility of all the other alternatives

Jeremy Bentham
John Stuart Mill

Question 2

John Bentham states that the principle of utility should be…

Answer 2

… the basis of morality and law, because it helps us answer what produces the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of people.
(uility= whatever promotoes pleasure and prevents pain)

Question 3

According to Bentham, there are three important features of utiliarianism. What are they?

1.
2.
3.

Answer 3

• happiness is the result of pleasure and the absence of pain (nothing except pleasure goes into happiness)
• all pleasures and pains are equal (mocking someone = helping someone)
• sacrificing one persons interests for the sake of the majority (building football stadium > clinic of more people are happy)

Question 4

Mill argued that greater weight should be…

Which means that the pleasure preferred by a mayority of people…

Answer 4

…. put on higher pleasures.

….who had experienced both pleasures should be counted as the higher pleasure.

Question 5

Mill argued that, far from being in tension with individual rights, the principle of utility was actually…

Answer 5

… the justification for protecting rights.

Question 6

What is the step by step to apply utilitarianism?

1.
2.
3.
4.

Answer 6

1. determine all alternative actions possible in this situation
2. for each alternative action, estimate the direct and
   indirect benefits and costs of the action for all persons affected
3. for each action, subtract the costs from the benefits to
   determine the net utility of each action
4. the action with the greatest sum total of utility must be chosen as the ethically appropriate course of action

Question 7

Utilitarianism can explain why we hold certain types of activities to be immoral, because…

Answer 7

of the costly effects it has in the long run.
(eg lying)

Question 8

What are some critic points to utiliarianism?

1.
2.

Answer 8

• not all values can be measured (Utilitarians respond that monetary or other common sense measures can
  measure everything.)
• fails with RIGHTS and JUSTICE
  (Rights: people have rights to life and basic needs. justice does not depend on mere utility, so utilitarianism does not
  provide a complete picture of morality.
  Justice: Utilitarianism looks only at how much utility is produced in a society, not how that utility is distributed among the members of society. )
  -> Utilitarians respond that rule-utilitarianism can deal with rights and justice

Question 9

What are the 5 major problems with the utilitarian reliance on measurement?

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Answer 9

1. Comparative measures of different people (i.e. students preparing for an exam: enjoyment?, stress?).
2. Some things are impossible to measure. (How much is a human life worth?, how much a life-extending drug under pain?)
3. potential benefits and costs cannot always be reliably
   predicted, so they are not adequately measurable. (What is the benefits of 2 weeks holidays?)
4. unclear exactly what counts as a benefit or a cost
5. “all goods can be traded for equivalents of each other” However, not everything has a monetary equivalent (i.e. death).

Question 10

Define…

1. Right.
2. Legal Right.
3. Moral (human) rights.

Answer 10

1. an individual’s entitlement to something
2. An entitlement that derives from a legal system that permits or empowers a person to act in a specified way or that requires others to act in certain ways toward that person (only where the legal system is)
3. rights that all human beings everywhere possess to an equal extent simply by virtue of being human beings. (for all humans)

Question 11

Why do moral judgements made on the basis of rights differ substantially from those based on utility?

1.
2.
3.

Answer 11

• First, they are based on the individual, whereas utilitarianism is based on society as a whole.
• Second, rights limit the validity of preferring numbers and social benefits to the
  individual.
• Third, although rights generally override utilitarian standards, they do not always do so. In times of war, for example, civil rights are commonly restricted for the public good.

Question 12

What are features of Moral Rights?

1.
2.
3.
4.

Answer 12

• VIOLATION: can be violated even when no one is hurt
• DUTIES: correlated with duties others have toward the person with the right
• AUTONOMY: Provide individuals with autonomy and equality in the free pursuit of their interests
• JUSTIFICATION: Provide basis for justifying one’s actions

JADV

Question 13

What is a key difference between Moral rights and utilitatian standards?

Answer 13

Moral rights focus on securing the interests of the individual unlike utilitarian standards (focusing on securing the aggregate utility of society).

Question 14

What are the three kinds of moral rights?

1.
2.
3.

Answer 14

• negative rights require others to leave us alone (eg privacy)
• positive rights reuire others to help us (health care, food)
• contractual or special right reuire others to keep their agreements (parties know whats going on; no misinterpretation; no duress or coercion; no agreement to immoral act)

Question 15

Utilitarians think that the right thing to do is… (1)
Libertarians disagree. They think that… (2)

Answer 15

1. whatever produces the greatest amount of happiness.
2. we must never violate anyone’s “rights”—even if doing so would increase overall happiness.

Liberitarian Example: Robert Nozick

Question 16

According to libertarians, the greatest threat to individual rights comes from… (1)

Whenever the government prohibits a self-endangering activity—like driving without a seat belt—it is being (2)

Whenever the government prohibits deviant but harmless behavior—like nonstandard sexual practices— (3)

Whenever the government taxes people for redistributive purposes, it is (4)

Answer 16

1. … the government. They think that many kinds of laws violate people’s rights.
2. unacceptably paternalist.
3. it is being oppressive.
4. stealing from them and forcing them to work for the benefit of other people.

Question 17

Libertarians - What does Robert Nozick say about redistribution?

1.
2.
3.

Answer 17

1. Government tends to redistribute wealth according to some pattern.
2. Redistributive Taxation is Forced Labor
3. Redistribution is incompatible with an “historical” view of justice.

Question 18

Whats the main idea of Libertarianism?

Answer 18

Fundamental individual right is right to liberty -> right to choose freely, provided we respect the rights of others

Question 19

What are Objections to Libertarianism?

Answer 19

1. The poor need the money more
2. Taxation by consent of the governed is not coerced
3. The successful owe a debt to society
4. Wealth depends partly on luck, so it isn’t deserved

Question 20

John Locke argues that legitimate government is…

Answer 20

…a limited government based on consent, in which the majority rules, but may not violate people’s fundamental rights.

Question 21

What were John Locke´s views on…

1. How private property can be justified

Answer 21

1. people have natural rights to private property before the government, as soon as the person mixes labor with it
   -> but the person must not take too much (god said you shouldn take anything to be spoiled)
   -> the person must leave enough for other people (bc god made the world for everyone)
   -> these conditions are easily saisfied once people CONSENT to the use of moneyW

Question 22

John Locke and the Nature of Legitimate Government.

1. Whats the state of nature
2. the law of nature

And how do they connect to another?

Answer 22

1. “the state of nature”is where everyone is free and equal; its full of inconveniences because there is no judge to settle disputed about that law of nature
2. everyone is bound by the “law of nature”, which commands seld preservation and preserving other peoples lives when this does not conflict with your own self preservation

-> everyone leaves the state of nature by agreeing to enter into civil society, and agree to a LIMITED government that protects their natural right to life, liberty, and property

Question 23

According to Locke a government is legitimate only if …
* without….
* without….

Would absolute monarchy be legitimate according to this?

Answer 23

….people in a state of nature could agree to it.
* …violating the law of nature and
* ….making their own condition worse.

No, because it gives the monarch more power than the people have a right to give + it makes them worse off than they would be in a state of nature, with no government.

Question 24

What can be said about the idea of unalienable rights in relation to John Locke?

Answer 24

• peoples rights to life, liberty, and property are unalienable; they cannot be given away
• people must preserve themselves according to the law of nature but they still commit suicide or sell themselves in certain situations

Question 25

Immanuel Kant argues that morality is based….

Which means that morality is doing the right thing…

Answer 25

…. neither on the principle of utility, nor a law of nature, but on human reason.

… JUSTbecause you know its the right thing

Question 26

What does Kant reason against the following theories?

1. Utilitations, who think the right thing to do is always to maximize happiness
2. Libertarians, who think the right thing to do is to let people do whatever they want.
3. John Locke, who says that there are unalienable rights, afforded to every human being by he law of nature.

Answer 26

1. Kant thinks not happiness, but freedom is the goal of morality
2. Kant denies that freedom = doing whatever one wants; he says reason tells us what we ought to do, and only when we obey our own reason, only then we are truly free
3. Kant thinks that things such as morality, duty, rights do not have their basis in a law of nature, but have their basis in humand reason

Question 27

When is an interest important enough to raise to be a right, according to Kant?

1.
2.

Answer 27

1. if we would not be willing to have everyone deprived of the freedom to pursue that interest
2. the freedom to pursue that interest is needed to live as free and rational things

Question 28

What does Kant´s Categorical Imperative state?

First version
1.
2.
3.

Second version
1.
2.
3.

Answer 28

FIRST VERSION
- we must act only on reasons we would anyone else in similar situations act on
- requires universalizability and reversibility
- “how would you like it if someone did that on you”?

SECOND VERSION
- never use people only as a means to your ends, but always treat them as they freely and rationally consent to be treated and help them pursue their freely and rationally chosen ends
- based on the idea that humans have a dignity that makes them different from object (treatment of people as ENDS, not MEANS)
- according to kant equivalent to first formulation
- e.g. it would be wrong to require a soldier to go to afghanistan if we was not told before about this task

Question 29

Kant´s Categorical Imperative | What do we need to determine what particular moral rights humans have?

1.
2.

Answer 29

1. specific interests human beings have because they are human beings
2. which interests are so important that they deserve being given the status of moral rights

-> then these rights can be defended on the two formulations of kants imperative

Question 30

What are three basic rights that can be defended on kantian grounds?

1.
2.
3.

Answer 30

1. humans want to be provided with the work, food, clothing, housing and medical care they need to live (otherwise they cannot survive)
   -> positive moral right
2. Humans want to think and speak freely (otherwise they cannot live as free rational persons, protects us against wrongdoing)
   -> negative moral right
3. Humans want to preserve contracts, i.e. showing respect for others freedom when honoring their contracts and be fully informed
   -> contractual right

Question 31

What does Kant think about the concept of morality?

1.
2.
3.

Answer 31

• a kind of law that everyone has to obey, and everyone can obey (for something to be a law everyone must be able to obey it)
• this law binds everyone, unconditionally
• “your action is moral only if it’s done from a motive that everyone else could act on at the same time as you’re acting
  on it”

Question 32

What does Kant say about the concept of Dignity?

Answer 32

• Kant thinks that every rational human being has dignity, and that everyone’s worth is infinite
• even murderers, etc

Question 33

What do Critics say about Kant?

1.
2.
3.

Answer 33

• WHY AND WHAT: theory not precice enough to always be useful: Even if the categorical imperative explains WHY people have moral rights, it cannot tell us WHAT particular moral rights humans have
• LIMITS : disagreement concerning what the limits of each of the rights are
• PRIOTITY: When rights come into conflict, it cannot tell us which right has priority

Question 34

What do Utilitarians say about substitution contracs?

1.
2.

Answer 34

• Substitution contracts maximize happiness because they give each party what he most wants—money, and avoidance of military service
• So long as they are voluntary, substitution contracts are fair