Ethical Problems of Gambling - Essay Example

? Ethical Problems of Gambling Outline Introduction Ethical Issues and Problems of Gambling Utilitarianism and Gambling Relativism and Gambling My Personal View on the Ethics of Gambling Introduction In the American society, it can be observed that gambling has held its prominence. It has even become a leisure activity for some individuals in the society. For some, it has been parts of their everyday lives. Gambling, based on the definition of Blaszczynski, Walker, Sagris and Dickerson (1997), is the act of staking money or wagering some items of material value in a specific event with the given objective of winning money or material goods though the outcome is not certain for the reason that winning is determined by chance. This is indeed a game of chance. Gambling comes in different forms which have included four (4) types of activities such as gaming, betting, lottery and speculation. The first type, gaming, is regarded as the exchange of money or some items of material value based on the outcome of game. This includes games such as cards, roulette and electronic gaming devices. The second type, betting, is considered the placing of wagers on the will – be – winner of the events like race, sports, and others. The third type, lottery, was characterized by paying of money to participate where winners are selected by means of random drawing of lots. The fourth type, speculation, is categorized as the investment of money in stock market activities, insurance, as well as in business ventures (Blaszczynski et al. 1997). However, with the advancement of technology, gambling has evolved and developed which leads to an increase of availability and accessibility to its different forms. From the traditional gambling forms, it has evolved to other forms such as instant scratch lotteries, online poker, electronic gaming devices like video – draw poker and others. For the reason that gambling is a multi – faceted activity, it is the case that the degree of involvement that one has exercised in such activity is influenced by different factors including the biological, psychological, cultural, economic and social aspects. In this regard, this paper will look at the ethical issues and problems that gambling presents. This aims at assessing the rightness or wrongness of gambling activities using the theories of utilitarianism and relativism. Ethical Issues and Problems of Gambling With the given probable outcome of winning more money, people are putting at stake their own money. In the realm of gambling, if one wins more money, it is considered good while when one loses more money, it is otherwise. According to Blaszczynski et al. (1997), some people engage on gambling as a part of their leisure activities and it has been a form of recreational activity for the majority of the people. According to Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH, 2008), problems concerning gambling are not just about losing money but taking into consideration the degree of involvement, its overall effects can impact a person’s entire existence. It can affect the way one work or performs in school or other activities, can damage psychological, physical and economic health, can ruin one’s reputation, and can also result to social problems with how one interacts with family or friends. The issues and problems of gambling occur in different levels. It can start from mild and extend up to a severe level. There are people who casually gamble yet do not go through any harm. There are the serious social gambler types who use to play on a regular basis but ensure that family and work must always be the highest priority. Also, there are people who overly gamble in which the impacts are negative such as experiencing physical, mental, financial, and social problems (CAHM, 2008). These people have all engaged in gambling though the effects that they experience are not the same to each other. Meanwhile, some perceive gambling as addictive disorder (Rosenthal and Lesieur, 1992; Jacobs, 1993). It is addictive in the sense that gamblers tend to have strong dependence on the activity, which has been characterized by their lack of control over their behavior towards gambling. Utilitarianism and Gambling The ethical issues and problems of gambling have been presented. For the point of view of the utilitarian, at some points, gambling can be considered morally right. As a form of consequentialism, utilitarianism is an ethical theory whose rightness or wrongness of an action is based only on its resulting outcome. This means that the moral worth of an action can only be determined after all its consequences are weighed and known. According to John Stuart Mill (1960), utilitarianism is an ethical principle which considers an action to be morally right when its upshot produces happiness which means the intended pleasure and absence of pain while it is wrong when it results to unhappiness which means the existence of pain and the lack of pleasure. According to utilitarianism, gambling is morally right if one feels happy on the end result of the activity. By happiness, it means one should find pleasure and feel no pain on the consequence of an action. In the arena of gambling, it is just about winning or losing the money of a person at stake. Therefore, the course of gambling is regarded to be morally right when one has won money or material goods in his or her own gambling activities. It does not matter whatever the intentions of that person has when he or she has gambled, what matters is that he or she is happy winning money or material goods in that particular activity. For the point of view of utilitarian, even if that money that is used for gambling activity is got from stealing or even if the person who is gambling has cheated on the activity, his or her gambling behavior is ethically acceptable. This is for the reason that the consequence of that person’s action has made him or her happy. Meanwhile, as we extend this to the social level, for example, taking into consideration the gambler’s family, let us say, the gambler is a husband and a father, even if the money that is placed as bet is intended for the apartment’s rent and food of the family, his behavior is morally right when he has won even much more money for his family. He is happy from the result of his gambling activity because he cannot only pay the apartment’s rent and food but also has extra money for other things. Even if his wife and kids hate him for using the money for gambling, his behavior is just right because he has also made his family happy for his gains. Thus, gambling is only wrong when the outcome of the said activity makes a person unhappy, feels pain, and is not finding pleasure on it. Relativism and Gambling While the perspective of utilitarianism has been provided, the ethics of gambling is different from the vantage point of relativism. According to LaFollete (1991), relativism is an ethical thesis which has considered that no moral right or wrong exists. It is a position that views the ethical judgments or principles not to be universal but relative to a particular culture, traditions or practices of an individual or even group of individuals. This has only gone to show that the moral rightness or wrongness of an action is based on the social norms depending on a particular context. Thus, moral absolute is non – existent. For the reason that universal moral standard does not exist, gambling can be regarded as morally right but also morally wrong depending on the practices of an individual, group of people, or their respective societies. While for some, gambling is acceptable, for the point of view of others, it is definitely not within the acceptable limits. Regardless of the person’s intention on why he or she has gambled and regardless of the outcome of the gambling activity, the gambling behavior can only be said morally right among individuals, groups of people or societies that permit it. On behalf of the religious groups, gambling is sinful and morally wrong. Whatever intention one has when he or she put his or her money at stake in exchange of money or material goods, gambling is never right. In contrast to utilitarianism, for the vantage point of religious groups, even if the resulting outcome of gambling has made a person happy, the activity is ethically unacceptable. On the one hand, for some people or societies, gambling can be acceptable at a certain extent. Some do not tolerate particular forms of gambling such as betting and gaming while the others find the selected forms of gambling like lottery and speculation as morally acceptable. Let us say as an example, a man allocates his budget for playing poker every single day. This man playing poker everyday can be regarded as doing an incorrect behavior for some. On the one hand, a man who regularly bet money on his selected numbers with the chance of winning the lottery can be viewed his behavior as morally correct. This is because relativism permits a wide variation of the culture, traditions or practices. The relativist would argue that gambling can be morally right or wrong for the reason that the differences across the world mean differences in moral values. Thus, people can adjust themselves depending on the modifications in culture, knowledge and technology in the society. Therefore, the relativist would contend that arguing whether gambling is morally wrong or right is pointless because there is an attitude of tolerance towards different cultures. My Personal View on the Ethics of Gambling After presenting the ethical issues and problems of gambling as well as providing the perspectives of utilitarianism and relativism towards gambling, personally, I can say that both views have relevance in me however the relativism is much closer to my own point of view. For my own vantage point, gambling has its own acceptable limits depending on the degree of involvement that one exerts on the said activity. For my part, I am really not into gambling but there are cases that I could consider myself to gamble for reasons like just for leisure, just for bonding with peers, or even just for the chance of winning. Even if for some, gambling is totally a morally wrong act, I do not really see my gambling behavior as morally wrong even if I happen to lose my money in those events. However, there are instances that I personally find gambling to be situated beyond my acceptable borders. These cases are when the gambling activities that each person takes on can already be damaging when done excessively. As for my opinion, gambling can be considered morally correct if the said activity can be regarded as a low – risk gambling. According to CAMH (2008), this type of gambling activity is not a problem because of the following reasons: the degree of involvement, time and money, is just controlled; gambling activity is just even with other fun interests; losses in the game of chance is acknowledged and not tried to win those back; winning is enjoyed though admits that it is brought by chance; does not gamble to simply gain money or to compensate debts; money used for gambling is not borrowed or not from personal savings; the trigger of gambling is not brought by the influence of alcohol or other addictive substances; reason for gambling is not because of the need to escape problems; and the impact does not negatively affect the physical, psychological, economic, and social health of an individual and his or her own family. However, I can say that gambling is already morally incorrect when it is already harmful and has the reverse characteristics of low – risk gambling. For me, it is no longer acceptable to gamble if an individual start to lose control of his or her own time and money spent in gambling, and even up to the point of borrowing or spending other’s money just to gamble; saying lies on gambling activities; feeling of depression or aggression at the events of losing; forget responsibilities for work and family; chasing losses on order to win the money back; seeing gambling with a high relevance in his or her life; gambling to cope with problems; conflicts with the family and friends are produced; and damaging the physical, psychological, economic, and social health of an individual and his or her own family (CAHM, 2008). Furthermore, my standpoint on the ethics of gambling is influenced by how my family sees it. For my family, gambling is morally right if it is just low – risk, not harmful and not addictive. This is not even how the other families, especially on those conservative and strictly religious families view it. It has only gone to show that the ethics of gambling is relative for my own point of view. There are absolutely no absolutes. Therefore, people of different social units have distinct criterion on assessing an act whether it is morally right or wrong. References: Blaszczynski, A., Walker, M., Sagris, A., and Dickerson, M. (1997). Psychological aspects of gambling behaviour. The Australian psychological society, 1 -31. Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). (2008). Problem gambling: the issues, the options. Canada: CAHM. Jacobs, D.F. (1993). Evidence supporting a general theory of addiction. In W. Eadington and J. Cornelius (Eds.), Gambling behaviour and problem gambling. University of Nevada, Reno: Institute for the Study of Gambling and Commercial Gambling. LaFollette, H. (1991). The truth in ethical relativism. Journal of social philosophy. 146 – 154. Mill, J. S. (1960). Utilitarianism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Rosenthal, R.J. and Lesieur, H.R. (1992). Self – reported withdrawal symptoms and pathological gambling. American journal of addiction, 1. 150 – 154. Read More