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Key ethical theories
Natural law theory essay
Key ethical theories
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I have been given the opportunity to take an ethical controversy and explore how six different ethic theories would apply to the situation. The ethical dilemma is such, “Investment brokers sometimes have a few clients who live hundreds of miles from their offices. For example, a Wall Street broker may provide investment counseling for his hometown relatives in upstate New York. By arranging to see them during his vacation visits home, he can claim his plane fare or car rental fees and perhaps even many of his meals as business expenses. In other words, he can deduct them on his tax return or, if he is employed by a company, claim them on his expense account”. In this essay, I will discuss Utilitarianism, Kantian Ethics, Natural Law Theory, …show more content…
It is idea that we should do what makes the most amounts of people happy. In this, the consequences and benefits, short and long term, must both be considered and how they affect each person. This theory allows for personal gain or loss to be considered but it should not have more weight in the decision. Utilitarianism in the dilemma of the investment broker would say for that it is ethical for the broker to conduct business while on vacation as it would make him and the client happy but, the firm would be unhappy. The broker is on vacation while spending time with clients and having expenses paid for. The client is seeing the broker face to face as opposed to seeing talking through emails or phone conversations. The business is unhappy because the broker is using his vacation time to work with clients. The majority though are receiving a benefit, so according to Utilitarianism, working on vacation and submitting expenses is …show more content…
In this theory, there are three beliefs that stem for it: moral law is known by human reason, applies to all people, and is built off of human nature. In the Natural Law Theory, our actions should be what are going to help grow a person’s life as opposed to what could harm it. In other words, our actions should be not affect a person in a negative way. There is also a principle of double effect. This means that actions may be morally right even if the law says it is wrong, illegal. In the matter of the dilemma, the broker should not conduct his business while on vacation because it would be wrong according to the Natural Law Theory the broker is lying to the firm and using their funds to cover the cost of his vacation. The harm is that he is cheating the company out of money for his own personal
Opposing ethical principles would program the vehicle in different ways. Immanuel Kant piloted the nonconsequentialist ethical view of morals. If Kant programmed the car, he would not change the car’s intended path to save multiple people because doing so would use other humans as means to an end. Kantian Ethics are based off of categorical imperatives. Put simply, “an action is right only if the agent would be willing to be so treated if the position of the parties were reversed” (Eby 1). Swerving to hit another person would be deciding that person’s fate, without consent, in order to save the larger group. This is not ethically justified by Kantian standards. Therefore, if the car was intended to veer towards the large group, it should continue on that trajectory. Additionally, there is still the possibility of the ten people moving out of the way in time or the breaks of the car could react fast enough to prevent an accident. Why should the car take the life of a bystander given those possibilities? A proponent of Kantian Ethics would advise the car to continue on its path but would enable the breaks.
Normative ethics have received much praise and criticism from well-respected philosophers for many years. Structured by Immanuel Kant, arguably one of the greatest minds in history, Kantian ethics have changed the way people look at what truly makes an action “right.” Kant believed that developing a moral system that was consistent and based entirely on reason was achievable. He urged ethics that are knowable without reference to sense experience, or as he calls “a priori” claims, because they are universal and binding. Kant argued that it is impossible to ground ethics on religion. Instead, he turned to a vague sense of natural law and states that rules exist to rational beings, whether on this universe or any other, simply because they are rational beings.
In this paper, I will argue that Kantianism, not utilitarianism, is the true account of morality. Utilitarianism is based on measuring happiness, but this is not something that can be objectively quantified. It is also a theory that bases the morality of an action on its future consequences, which cannot be accurately predicted. Lastly, a society governed by Kantianism would, possibly, produce greater total happiness than a society governed by utilitarianism.
In Written Assignment #1, I will be talking discussing Situation #1 about Frank Van Den Bleeken. I will be comparing it to Kantian Ethics and Ethical Egoism.
Normative ethical theory is the study of “What constitutes an acceptable ethical standard for business practice, and by what authority is the standard acceptable?” (Arnold, Beauchamp, Bowie, 2013, p. 17) Utilitarian, Kantian, and Virtue theories will be compared against Ms. Stewart’s actions in the ImClone
When being an electrical engineer, acting in a professional way is one of the most important things to remember. Supplying products or doing services in a professional way makes companies look better and more appealing to consumers. Clients are very important to engineering because they bring in most of the money for engineering professions. Clients want professional businesses they can trust and have faith that the good or service being done for them is being done correctly and efficiently. With that though the clients must also be respectful to the professionals doing the task for them. These professionals are taking time to create a good or perform a service for their client. A strong relationship between a professional and their client in engineering is key to the success of the business and should be taken very seriously. Engineering professionals though also must have interactions with the general public when creating things like building, bridges and other big monuments. These things will be used every day by individuals and engineering professionals must ensure that that they are safe for other people. Engineering professionals must be very knowledgeable in what they are doing because the things that are created by engineers affect thousands of people every day. Experience is key to creating something clients will like because professionals know what has worked in the past and what has not worked. They also know from experience what clients are looking for and what kind of a relationship is needed in order to keep clients happy. In order to be a successful engineering professional one must be knowledgeable at what they do, calm and patient with clients and consumers, and lastly be independent and not vulnerable so clients ...
People face ethical choices every day, and there are several different approaches towards reaching a decision. A professor is tasked with making a decision as to whether he should report a high-achieving student, Charlie, for plagiarizing an article. The professor must use reasoning and ethics. One of the most famous form of ethics is Kantian ethics, which is a form of deontology, or duty-based ethics. The professor can use Kantian ethics to make his decision, or he can take into account the context of the situation to further asses as I would do.
In a similar fashion it is possible to justify the requirement for competence with Kantian ethics as well. Kantian ethics might consider this a categorical imperative, to only act upon that which you are competent when it affects the public. It follows then that this can be considered a maxim that one would “will” upon everyone. Few people, if any, would will for anyone to act incompetently with regard to others. Anyone who has or has accompanied someone with road rage is well aware that many do wish more competence be required for even mundane tasks. To continue with this example, even those with road rage do not make exceptions for themselves in terms of requiring competence; they may simply be biased in estimating where exactly their skill level is.
Aristotle's and Kant's ideas of the means and ends of moral ethics are in sharp contrast. Both have strengths and weaknesses in their arguments, but Aristotle's is superior to Kant's because it is more realistic. I will first give the basis of both philosophies, Aristotle first, Kant second. Next, I will expand and question points of both philosophies, Aristotle's end, and Kant's means. Lastly, I will explain the reasoning behind why I favor Aristotle's ethics over Kant's. Both philosophies appeals to reason, but they come to different conclusions.
Both Kantian and virtue ethicists have differing views about what it takes to be a good person. Kantian ethicists believe that being a good person is strictly a matter of them having a “good will.” On the other hand, virtue ethicists believe that being a good person is a matter of having a good character, or being naturally inclined to do the right thing. Both sides provide valid arguments as to what is the most important when it comes to determining what a person good. My purpose in writing this paper is to distinguish between Kantian ethics and virtue ethics, and to then, show which theory is most accurate.
Imagine being faced with an important decision that affects a group of people. In order to make this decision you would have to decide which choice is wrong and which choice is right. There are two notable theories that believe a single moral principle provides the best way to achieve the best outcome to a moral judgement. These theories are utilitarianism and Kantian ethics.
Immanuel Kant the founder of the "Categorical Imperative" (CI) argues that morality is based on standards of rationality. Therefore, to act in disaccord with the CI is to act irrationally or immorally. In comparison to Christianity, to act immorally is to act in disagreement with God's laws. Kant's CI is formulated into three different ways, which include: The Universal Law Formulation, The Humanity or End in Itself Formulation, and The Kingdom of Ends Formulation (Stanford) . The first to formulas combine to create the final formulation. Christianity closely relates to each formula, except for the final formulation. Christianity provides context where following the CI will not result in moral behavior. There are two factors missing from Kant's CI: faith and God's judgement.
James Liang is one of the Volkswagen engineers who helped to deceive the United States government as to the emissions produced by Volkswagen’s diesel engines. The Volkswagen team built the diesel engines in 2006, but failed to meet the American emissions standards. Instead of delaying their launch in America or redesigning the engines, the engineers chose to include software that recognized emissions testing and changed the settings of the engine to meet the standards during tests. When not being tested, these engines produced up to 40 times the allowed emissions. Liang has been condemned for his actions, but to understand what makes such actions ethical or otherwise, one must apply an ethical theory to them; in this case, Kantian ethics and
4. Unknown. Ethics. Santa Clara University Markkula Center for Applied Ethics. 29th March 2004. http://cseserv.engr.scu.edu/NQuinn/COEN288/EngrHandbook_Ethics.pdf
Shaw, W. H., & Barry, V. (2011). Moral Issues in Business (Eleventh ed., pp. 230-244).