Kantian and Utilitarian Case Study

Immanuel Kant's deonotological ethical theory assesses if actions are moral based on the person's will or intention of acting. Kant's theory can be categorized as a deonotological because "actions are not assessed to be morally

In the above case study the ethical dilemma is whether to give the contract to company A which is a fair option among the two or give the contract to company B because it is run by Nirmal’s friend Devraj.

The unethical behavior has effected the organization, injured party, and society. The organization is effected because of the unreliability of new drugs brought to the market. With past issues with unethical practices in medical research, the prescribing health professionals are reluctant to use product. The organization loses profit and reputation because of the unethical practices some companies use. The injured party, the patient, is affected because lost of life or developed illnesses that are not able to returned to normal state. With illness and death the individual places hardship on other family members creating a wealth of economic instability. Society is effected because new drugs are not developed to help with incurable diseases because of the past experiences, and if developed the health care professionals do not want to prescribe the medication because of potential lawsuit. Society is trying to gain a healthier community but can not because the trust in pharmaceuticals is no longer valid.

Kant had a different ethical system which was based on reason. According to Kant reason was the fundamental authority in determining morality. All humans possess the ability to reason, and out of this ability comes two basic commands: the hypothetical imperative and the categorical imperative. In focusing on the categorical imperative, in this essay I will reveal the underlying relationship between reason and duty.

Pignatelli is desperate, and he may be leaning in the direction of hiring a consultant who might use part of the money for bribes. Although Pignatelli does not pay the money directly, he is the person providing the money. It does not absolve him of responsibility because he is authorizing this unethical action. Pignatelli made the decision of hiring a consultant with absolute knowledge about how the money will be used. If he chose this option, he would be responsible for making the decision of hiring the consultant knowing that the money will be used for unethical behaviors like bribes.

“The considerations of practicality and principle discussed … above appear to support the respondents ' case, namely that a bribe or secret commission accepted by an agent is held on trust for his principal. The position is perhaps rather less clear when one examines the decided cases … However, to put it at its lowest, the authorities do not preclude us adopting the respondents ' case in that they do not represent a clear and consistent line of authority to the contrary effect. Indeed, we consider that, taken as a whole, the authorities favour the respondents ' case.” (per Lord Neuberger in FHR European Ventures LLP and others v Cedar Capital Partners LLC [2014] UKSC 45 at [46].

According to this case, if Phil and Dale bribe Dietz and Schultz, they could get the contract. They could also get high salaries. Their employees will keep their work. Shareholders will earn a lot of money. Suppliers will not get hurt and keep going. Competitors might loss market share. Dietz and Schultz will get money. Bribe might be legal and ethical in German, but the morality of business does not allow people to do it.

This week’s readings focused on Mill’s ideas about Utilitarianism theory and Kantian Ethics. Mill believed that certain pleasures were necessary in human beings living a happy life. He also based his theory off of pleasure and pain (Yoshikawa, 2016, p. 1). Kantian Ethics elaborates on one’s moral obligations. Kant believed that following absolute moral rules were what morality was all about (Yoshikawa, Lecture 3 Kantian Ethics, 2016, p. 1).

The ethical dilemma Bob faces in this case is a transaction that makes Bob question his and the company’s ethics and legal obligations. It’s February, business was slow, the company was $5,000 below their breakeven point, and it appeared as if a

“Richard Hare is one of most foremost contemporary defenders of utilitarianism today. He is committed to the principle of utility - to the act which does more good, gives greater benefit, or which satisfies more preferences, or the stronger of two or more preferences.” (Hare, 1981). This essay will discuss how the Philosopher, Richard Hare, derives preference utilitarianism from moral judgement aspects such as prescriptivity and universalizability using various different example(s) to explain and create understanding, and finally the essay will be concluded as to how Richard Hare derived preference utilitarianism.

The only thing that matters is the amount of happiness and unhappiness that is caused. Therefore the right actions are those that produce the highest ratio of happiness over

There really is only one solution here. That John should not take the bribe. It goes against your personal beliefs and against company policies. It really isn’t worth your own integrity or worth losing your job to try and land a deal that you know is wrong. If the doctor wants the machine because he knows it’s a good machine and at a great price, he knows where to find John and purchase these machines.

Mr. Chong knows about recent cases of corporate bribery in Malaysia and in the retail industry. There had been scandals regarding foreign investors who bribed public officials or financed government programs to obtain business privileges or competitive advantage (Inkpen, 2010). Moreover, there was a recent case of bribery involving a Jextra’s country manager in the Philippines. More likely, this manager also encountered similar ethical dilemmas like Mr. Chong. Some individual factors that may have driven him to act unethically in the Philippines could have been pressure from the company to expand and gain competitive advantage in the region. Alternatively, he might have simply wanted to advance his career as a country manager, lacked of ethics or did not know the local laws regarding bribery. Additionally, he might not have received or requested support from the top management regarding the social and ethical issues raised in the Philippines. Mr. Chong, as an experienced manager, should have anticipated that he would encounter legal and ethical risks in Malaysia.

German philosopher Kant was first to introduce the Kantian ethics; hence, the named after him. According to Professor Elizabeth Anscombe, Immanuel Kant was Unitarianism’s rival; he believed actions that are taboo should be completely prohibited at all times. For instance, murder should be prohibited. Even though nowadays a person cannot be punished if death is involved as a self defense, from Kant’s perspective this is still prohibited, although sometimes these actions bring more happiness to the big majority of people than sorrow. Kant stated that before acting, one should ask his/her self: am I acting rationally and in a way that everyone will act as I purpose to act? Is my action going to respect the moral law or just my own purpose? If the answer to those questions is a no, the action must be abandoned. Kant’s theory is an example of the deontological theory that was developed in the age of enlightenment. According to Elizabeth, these theories say that “the rightness or wrongness of actions does not depend on their consequences but on whether they fulfill our duty.”( Anscombe, 2001) Kant said that morality is built based on what he called “Hypothetical Imperatives”, but rather principles called “Categorical Imperatives” he referred to it as the supreme principle of morality. (Texas A&M University, n.d.) Cavico and Mujtaba reported on their book that Kant stated that morality

This does not set a good example for the employees and can be harmful to the future of the company. Ensuring that bribery stops can solve many of the problems discussed above. Some feasible solutions are being recommended to help the company in both short term and long term. First of all, all employees including managers should be given training and education about bribery, corruption and what’s deemed illegal according to the law. Explicit measures should be suggested on how they can avoid supporting corruption and also where they can report to in case a situation where dishonesty is involved arises.