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AP/SOSC 2340/2349 6.o Intermediate Business & Society Lecture 3: Utilitarianism

AP/SOSC 2340/2349 6.o Intermediate Business & Society Lecture 3: Utilitarianism. The Ford Pinto. Utilitarianism. Question: What is the ‘right action’ or ‘best policy’? Answer: That which produces the greatest ‘utility’ or has the ‘ best consequences ’.

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AP/SOSC 2340/2349 6.o Intermediate Business & Society Lecture 3: Utilitarianism

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  1. AP/SOSC 2340/2349 6.o Intermediate Business & Society Lecture 3: Utilitarianism

  2. The Ford Pinto

  3. Utilitarianism Question: What is the ‘right action’ or ‘best policy’? Answer: That which produces the greatest ‘utility’ or has the ‘bestconsequences’. (‘Utility’ = ‘welfare’ or ‘happiness’)

  4. Two tenets: • ‘Consequentialism’: actions are to be judged solely by their consequences. • Egalitarianism: everyone’s welfare (utility) is to count equally.

  5. Example in public policy Should city authorities give planning permission for a coal-fired power station near an urban community? The answer depends on the consequences: • Who gains? • Who loses? • Do the gains outweigh the losses?

  6. What is utility? Can we measure happiness? Can we compare the happiness one person derives from different activities? Are there ‘higher pleasures?’ Can we compare degrees of happiness interpersonally?

  7. Problems Can we reliably assess the expectedgains/losses associated with the power station? What about other cases: • doubling student fees, • funding a scientific research project, • legalizing heroin consumption, • bailing out the banking system?

  8. Egalitarianism Do we have ‘special obligations’ to some people but not to others? Do we have special obligations to ourselves?

  9. What about rights? Why does utilitarianism have difficulty accommodating rights? Examples: • Forced transplantation • Expropriation of assets of the wealthiest individual in society • Torture.

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