PHI 445 Week 1 Discussion, Utilitarianism, Deontology, and Virtue Ethics Case Study: Starbucks (Two Responses)

PHI 445 Week 1 Discussion, Utilitarianism, Deontology, and Virtue Ethics Case Study: Starbucks (Two

Responses)

Utilitarianism is the belief that “an action is morally right if the consequences of

that action are more favorable than unfavorable to everyone” (Fieser, 2015, section 1.3).

This set of ethics considers the most moral action as the one that provides the “greatest

happiness for the greatest number” (Macat Education, 2015). This principle determines

what is moral by weighing the good and bad outcomes of our actions. The text states that

“when determining the morality of any given action, we should list all of the good and

bad consequences that would result, determine which side is weightier, and judge the

action to be right if the good outweighs the bad” (Feiser, 2015, section 1.3). Another

characteristic of utilitarianism is that it is based on consequences, we have to determine if

the consequence is worth taking the action.

Virtue ethics is the “view that morality is grounded in the virtuous character traits

that people acquire” (Feiser, 2015, section 1.3). This theory highlights character over

actions which is different from the utilitarianism. This is the belief that good mental

habits produce moral behavior. Temperance, which is the middle of overindulgence and

rejection of all pleasures-it’s a happy medium where one is able to enjoy many pleasures

in reasonable quantities. Aristotle states that finding the perfect middle ground is not an

easy task, but it is something that decent people must find (Feiser, 2015).

Deontology was developed by Immanuel Kant as “categorical imperative, which

is a moral principle that we should treat each person as an end, and never merely as a

means to an end” (Feiser, 2015, section 1.3). The main characteristic of deontology is that

we should treat everyone “as beings with instrinct value and regard them as highly as we

would our own happiness” (Feiser, 2015, section 1.3). Another characteristic of this

theory is that it follows the golden rule which states to treat other the way you want to be

treated.

One ethical problem that Starbucks was confronted with was the crisis by the

coffee industry when a lot of farmers were going out of business because of

overproduction. Starbucks would try to resolve using utilitarianism, assessing the actions

consequences and weighing the good vs. the bad. They developed café practices, which

pay farmers a premium fair price for their coffee, teaching them about sustainable

practices so the environment, as well as the industry, is protected (Tabberer, 2010). Since

Starbucks needs to act in a way that not only is beneficial to them, but as many people as

possible. Their practices serves good for the company, the farmers, their families and the

environment.

References

Fieser, J. (2015). Introduction to business ethics [Electronic version]. Retrieved from

https://content.ashford.edu/

Macat Education. (2015, October 13). An introduction to John Stuart Mill’s

utilitarianism–A Macat politics analysis [Video file]. Retrieved

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