How might a Utilitarian Assess the Moral of the Ford Motor Companys Decision - Case Study Example

How might a Utilitarian assess the moral of the Ford Motor Company’s decision? The fundamental determinant of the appropriatenessof an action that is undertaken by any party, according to the principle of Utilitarianism, is based on the fact that an action is good, if it gives an individual happiness. Therefore, while assessing whether an action undertaken by an individual is right, the vital aspect is to see how the action impacts on the happiness of the particular individual as an entity, without any due consideration of how the action will impact on the others.

Happiness simply means the acquisition of the intended pleasure and the absence of any form of pain. Value hedonism is a basic principle of Utilitarianism, which provides that the rightness or wrongness of an action is determined by the intrinsic value that would be obtained from such an action, where the intrinsic value is measurable based on the happiness index. Thus, based on this principle, the Ford Motor Company’s decision not to make an improvement on its defective gas tank design because the costs of improving the design outweighed its benefits is right and moral, since it gave happiness to the company.

On the other hand consequentialism is an important aspect of the Utilitarianism, where the rightness or wrongness of an act is also judged, based on how good or bad the consequences it produces are. The fundamental aspect of Utilitarianism regarding consequentialism is the fact that; good intentions do not matter in determining the rightness of an action, as long as good consequences are obtainable. Therefore, based on this principle, the Ford Motor Company’s decision is good, since despite the intention of the action, the consequences were good, since the company did not incur the extra costs.

However, through applying the Utilitarianism concept of universality, all individuals to be affected by the consequences of an action are deemed morally relevant. Thus, considering the Ford Motor Company’s decision would impact negatively on the customers of the company, then it is morally wrong. This view point is emphasized by the impartialism principle of Utilitarianism, which requires that all individual affected by the action should count equally, as regards the consequences of an action.

This being the case, the Ford Motor Company’s decision is immoral, since its consequences do not grant the customers of the company equal happiness, as it does to the company.