The Use of a Utilitarian Philosophy - Research Paper Example

1 The Use of a Utilitarian Philosophy Works Best to Balance A Business Organization’s Legal, Societal, Economic, and Moral Obligations A Critical Thesis James Buns (your name here) Star University (your university here) 3 Purpose The purpose of this research is to investigate and highlight the possibility of using Utilitarian Philosophy as a checkmate or balancing system for putting Business Organizations in the right perspectives about their legal, social, economic and moral obligations as far as consumers’ rights and well-being are concerned. There are some questions that would be answered in this research: how do the organizations tend to satisfy the legal requirements provided in the Country’s as touching the issue of consumerism? Do these organizations offer any social goodness to the people in the community they serve? On economic issue, do the organizations pay attention to consumers’ capability to purchase a certain product or do they only care about maximizing their profits? How moralistic are the actions of organizations to their customers? Finally, how does the principle of Utilitarianism help put all the actions of business organizations in check? 3 Introduction Utilitarian Philosophy or Utilitarianism can be described as a mechanism by which happiness and satisfaction in life could be made available to all people without prejudicial consideration or discrimination (Goodin, 1995). Researchers have always found it difficult to give a single definition to Utilitarianism because it encompasses all practices and processes that would provide opportunities for ordinary people in a country to enjoy equal happiness and well-being. Goodin (1995) strongly believed that Utilitarianism is a public philosophy whereby governments make laws and regulations to control the activities of all producers of goods and services within the country in a way that they will not jeopardize the well-being and state of happiness of the consumers. Definitely, governments set up ethics and codes of practices to checkmate overt desires to maximize profits, undermine people’s social and moral aptitudes and fundamental rights by requiring that business organizations carry out their business functions in a manner that would not harm people’s lives (Goodin, 1995). In this perspective, the governments are acting like checkmate system or moral agent, reminding the owners of businesses their non-negotiable responsibilities or obligations towards their customers, in assuring that their satisfaction and happiness are maintained. 4 Governments somehow tolerate utilitarianism in order to ensure that the rights of all citizens are respected, and the governmental policies of equality are honored (Goodin, 1995). This fact alone makes it impossible for business organizations to cheat their customers and risk being sanctioned by the governments (Goodin, 1995). Without doubt, utilitarianism serves to create more satisfaction for the ordinary people in the societies by making sure that all parties involved in the production of goods and services work collaboratively towards providing ultimate happiness and satisfaction to all the people in the societies (Goodin, 1995). Though in reality, utilitarian philosophy has been proved difficult to implement in the sense that it requires that all laws and regulations guiding business activities should be obeyed, and the fundamental human rights of every person in a society must be respected. The usual happenings among business organizations include robbing people of their power of choice and underrating their state of happiness, which every government is sure to resist by implementing laws and statutes that will protect the helpless consumers (Goodin, 1995). 5 Utilitarianism and Business Organizations’ Practices Business organizations are established for a particular purpose: their primary functions may be to provide goods or services or even both to their customers. These organizations operate with the sole intention to increase their profitability as they aspire to satisfy the desires or wishes of their customers. However, the principle of utilitarian philosophy demands that the wishes of the customers should be given optimum satisfaction to the point that they will so happy and enjoy the service or products (Goodin, 1995). But these requirements seem to put business organizations at odds with their initial plan to maximize profits. So, how can business organizations achieve their aim as well as bringing happiness to their customers in the areas highlighted below? That is, how could the business organization carry out their legal, societal, economic and moral obligations to their customers or people in a particular society? (i) Legal Responsibility: Business organizations are encouraged by governmental agencies and regulators to abide by the commercial laws in such a country. These laws could include but not restricted to Anti-Trust Laws, Consumer Protection Laws, and Laws guiding transparency in pricing and environmental protection. These laws are made by government to protect the citizens in a country (Goodin, 1995). It is the responsibility of the business organizations to make sure that prices they charge for goods and services are affordable, and the rights of individual consumers are taken care of. In terms of legal disagreement, 6 it is the job of the business organizations to find quick solutions to resolve whatever legal problems they may have had with their customers. By doing this, the business organizations can keep offering satisfactory services or goods to their customers. (ii) Societal (social) responsibility: The business organizations are expected to show good examples in the societies by creating products or services that are meant to develop the societies. Governments are always monitoring organizations that produce harmful products like weapons and ammunition in order to be sure that their products do not cause problems in the societies. Business organizations are tasked with the duty to make their customers happy by offering products that are environmentally friendly and helpful to the people in the societies, as expected by the government (Goodin, 1995). (iii) Economic Importance: Business organizations are expected to bring economic happiness to the people in the communities where they are established. This idea is further encouraged by governments with the provisions of business incentives, laws and comfortable environment for business activities (Goodin, 1995). The business organizations can provide jobs or other forms of employment for people to do in order to improve their economic status. Incidentally, many governments are concerned about how business organizations could provide some means of financial empowerment through jobs; and this is why business (iv) 7 organizations are strictly monitored by governmental agencies so as to realize this great dream. (v) Moral Aptitude: Business organizations are naturally expected to pursue their organizational goals with a high measure of moral aptitude. In other words, business organizations should not create a culture of widespread corruption, indecency, discrimination, and should not participate in immoral activities like pornography and the others. Governments will use all power at their disposal to make sure that all citizens are happy and satisfied with their daily lives (Goodin, 1995). In this case, business organizations will be forced to operate in way that the societies will remain morally upright. Conclusion The explanations provided above support the fact that most governments entertain utilitarian philosophy with the intention of making their citizens, and enforcing business organizations to play accord to the laws and rules, which require that the organizations offer their contributions in the areas of legal, social, economic and moral importance in the societies. By doing so, they can make the people in the societies happy and fulfill their aspirations for satisfactory products and services provided by the business organizations. 8 References Goodin, R.E. (1995). Utilitarianism as a public philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Read More