Utilitarianism business?

Question

many businesses find utilitarianism a suitable theory for the ethical issues they face. can anyone help me understand why? and maybe give an example

Answer 1

people seem to misunderstand utilitarianism.

it's not the greatest good for the greatest number, it's just the greatest good.

utilitarianism, then, is a cost-benefit analysis. whenever the benefits outweigh the costs, you do something.

if a trolley is going down a track without any brakes, it will crash. the trolley is carrying 15 people on it, all of whom will die unless there's an intervention. consider the idea that you're standing next to a fat man. and only someone of the fat man's weight/girth can stop the trolley.

if you're utilitarian, you push the fat man. saving 14 lives is the net effect.

Answer 2

Utilitarianism means doing whatever will promote the greatest happiness for the greatest number. They do this because of a simple numbers game....it's better to keep more happy than not. So it's better to do what the majority of people agree with. From a business standpoint it's the only choice to stay in business and keep the greatest number of customers.

Answer 3

You can make utilitarianism work with almost anything.

When businesses choose to be ethical they are weighing this against factors like their reputation, legal repercussions, etc. This can be consistent with utilitarianism.

Answer 4

Basically, it's a system that says something is right (good, moral, ethical, whatever) if it works.

Utilitarianism says that the measure of whether something is valid is if it accomplishes the goals, without causing too much collateral damage.