Business Ethics and Utilitarianism - Report Example

Task: Business Ethics Executive summary The cardinal virtues of ethics provide various elements to complement life. Nevertheless, life has remained a platform of challenging situations calling for rationality and moral ethics. The cross-pollination between actions and consequences has attracted attention from various scholars. The paper is a case study analysis of an ethical situation in connection to various philosophical theories. It attempts to explain how choice of actions significantly affects not only happiness but also moral judgement. Introduction The everyday life presents people with a myriad of challenges that do not only require wits, but also influence from other people to make the right decision. John Stuart mill paints life to be composed of low and high pleasures (Scarre 27). The greatest happiness principle of Utilitarianism suggests that life has both pleasure and pain. People are normally happy in the absence of pain, suffering or any other form of problem. On the other hand, the absence of pleasure inflicts pain on the individuals, a factor contributing to unhappiness. In essence, the life of any human being gets driven by intrinsic values of desire. Despite being happy or unhappy, values define morality. The paper is a case study discussion of a morally challenging scenario all with dire consequences. Body of the Essay The cardinal virtues of ethics present justice, prudence, courage and temperance as complements of life. Perhaps the right question is how an action can be wrong when it leads to best solutions. Therefore, would it be irrational to ensure that people make the right choice, which are less good, but have great promises? These questions form the basis of my case study analysis where a dilemma between moral duty and results conflict. No system of ethics is accustomed to the feeling of duty. For example, people relate a majority of responses to personal desires and not morality of the same actions. From this perspective, emotional dispositions are virtues in the moderate usual sense. They assist in differentiating a sympathetic pain from the feeling of others, to create a balanced feeling. The science of morality presents an explanatory power in relation to great scientists like Newton. For instance, Newton’s laws seemingly account for different kinds of motion in the world. In as much as Hedonism is not in support of Utilitarianism, it is clear that both intellectual and physical pleasures have a bearing on ordinary life. Above all, it is imperative to note that the philosophical doctrine does not require maximization of happiness but rather a consideration into other’s wellbeing. Despite the marvelling support for Utilitarianism, many philosophical shortcomings surround its motive, preference or choice of actions. As an Engineer at Bell Street, I have the responsibility of ensuring that all machines are mechanically fit to safeguard humans. However, in my line of work accidents are inevitable. Therefore, an everyday failure, jamming or inability to function by any standards does not amount to incapacity. In the case study; however, a series of technical failures has initiated a scenario of moral obligation. Lexington Avenue Station, which is a great switching hub, can no longer serve the intended role. The problem has reached its crisis stage considering the hard decisions that users of the same switching lanes have to adopt. The right track cannot deliver services as a school bus filled with 39 students has broken down. The switchman is expected to advise users into siding track, nonetheless as if planned, the siding track has also been disabled as a car filled with four adults is also under technical duress. Notably, this means that both the rails are not usable until the school bus and car are cleared. As I approach the station, problems mount onto each other when my brakes cannot work despite switchman’s advice to save the situation by stopping. Since, the trolley cannot stop; i have the options of ramming the bus full of school children or the car. Such a decision can directly lead to death of occupants (39 children or 4 adults). The decision does not prove favourable, but available for exploitation. On a second thought, the switch man presents a solution that is also worse, but has few fatalities. It involves going through the vintage point and equally killing an obese and homeless man on the bridge then landing onto the power lines. The decision can result into stoppage of all trains and death of one individual but saving the other on the rail line. The ethical dilemma surrounding the case study connects to a lifetime opportunity that attempt to justify a moral decision. The question remains that are we justified to kill a homeless man because of his economic or social situation. Are we at liberty to judge and take lives? What is the degree of certainty that the obese person does not have a home of dependants like other individuals in the dilemma? A close look at these questions tags the role of ethical continuity and rationalization. From this perspective, unequal competition seems to be dominating the decision making process. Some of the people seem to be getting the upper hand while others already have decisions directing their fate. Indeed, the situation is challenging, and scrutiny of options in the fastest time possible is necessary. Metaphysical theory refers to actuality and potentiality while making choices. The potential in this case vary depending on the choice made; however, the reality remains the same for all. For instance, in the entire situation a life must be lost. Theoretical knowledge suggests that experiences of actions in life play a significant role in developing virtue. Notably, morality and virtue are two sides of the same coin but dedicated to contemplation. Indeed, the professional qualification gives me the upper hand in making the right decision; nevertheless who will the decision affect? Will it be the children, the adults or the homeless man? The Three Mile Island effect makes it difficult to assign a consequence to the incident. In this light, it will be very difficult to pre-empt any calamity but lessons learnt from the incident are likely to assists in future decisions. The moral impulse of good consequences motivates people, nonetheless what constitutes a proficient value when it is likely to cause death. Rational principles suggest sacrificial consequentialism as the most appropriate way of having better judgement. In the world of futile happiness and pain, voluntary empathy is unavoidable but existing situations require immediate solutions. Arguably, the idea of adding pleasures or pain in a logical case proves morally irrelevant. In the case study, each person has the potential of living, but do not have equal chances of sharing the same joy or pain. Killing the many children or the four adults is likely to induce more pain or unhappiness than the death of an individual. As John Taurek puts it, what is the purpose of leaving six people to die when one can be saved? (Scarre 88) The cogent fear, however, is the fact that each victim in the scenario shares the same feeling. In this respect, every individual has equal right, but the experiences of greater sorrow help in making the final decision. Contrary to John Taurek’s ethical situation where everybody had equal chances of dying, the case study has people meant to live. Despite the equality, the homeless man has limited chances of portraying greater sorrow and pain. In this respect, I would make the third decision while sparing the lives of the adults and children. Conclusion In conclusion, Newton’s third law of motion attempts to connect actions to reactions. He uses science to prove philosophical accounts although little exists in relation to moral proof. In everyday life, people are faced with different situations that require rationality and moral obligation. The question; however, is should a morally right action esteemed for good results be ignored? The case study remains a perfect example of this situation where a decision can significantly influence the happiness or sorrow of individuals involved. Despite the cardinal virtues, I favour a morally right action meant to safeguard future experiences. Works Cited Scarre, Geoffrey. Utilitarianism. New York, NY: Routledge, 2002. Print Read More