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ethics Guide

i Know what’S Better, really

Suppose you work for a small startup company guide introduces a second way, one known as utilitarianism.
involved in the innovative application of 3D printing technol- The basis of this theory goes back to early Greek philosophers,
ogy, like Falcon Security. Your company is 2 years old, em- but the founders of the modern theory are considered to be
ploys 50 people, and, like many startup companies, is short of Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, as you will learn in
money. Even though you’re relatively junior, you’ve impressed your business ethics class.
the company’s founders, and they have asked you to take According to utilitarianism, the morality of an act is
a leadership role on a number of special projects. Recently, determined by its outcome. Acts are judged to be moral if they
the company has been investigating developing an informa- result in the greatest good to the greatest number or if they
tion system to store 3D engineering designs and make them maximize happiness and reduce suffering. The prior sentence
available to customers for purchase. You’ve been assigned to contains a great deal of subtlety that has led to numerous fla-
a committee that is developing alternative IS designs for con- vors of utilitarianism—flavors that are beyond the scope of
sideration by senior management. this text. Here we will work with the gist of those statements.
You and a coworker, Leslie Johnson, have developed two Using utilitarianism as a guide, killing can be moral if
different alternatives for consideration by the committee. You it results in the greatest good to the greatest number. Killing
believe that Alternative Two is vastly preferable to Alternative Adolf Hitler would have been moral if it stopped the Holo-
One, but Leslie believes just the opposite. You think if Leslie’s caust. Similarly, utilitarianism can assess lying or other forms
alternative is chosen, the result will be a major financial loss, of deception as moral if the act results in the greatest good
one that your young startup company is unlikely to survive. to the greatest number. Lying to someone with a fatal illness
Even if that does not occur, so much time will be lost pursu- that you’re certain he or she will recover is moral if it increas-
ing Leslie’s alternative that your company will fall behind the es that person’s happiness and decreases his or her suffering.
competition in your dynamic, developing market and will lose
substantial market share to the competition as a result.
Unfortunately, Leslie is called away due to a family emer- 1WT 4GEQOOGPFGF #NVGTPCVKXGU
gency on the day the two of you are to present your alter-
natives. You so strongly believe that Leslie’s plan is likely to #NVGTPCVKXG 1PG
cause irreparable harm to the company that you decide to • +P JQWUG UVQTGU & FKCITCOU
present only your plan. While you never lie outright, you lead • &KTGEV EQPPGEV VQ G EQOOGTEG UGTXGT
the committee to believe that both of you strongly support
your plan. The committee adopts your plan, and Leslie never #NVGTPCVKXG 6YQ 7UG VJG %NQWF
learns that the committee saw only one alternative. Is your • & FKCITCOU UVQTGF QP GNCUVKE ENQWF UGTXGTU
behavior ethical? • 7UG /QPIQ&$ QP #95
The Ethics Guide in Chapter 1 introduced Kant’s categor- • 51# EQPPGEVKQPU VQ G EQOOGTEG UGTXGT
ical imperative as one way of assessing ethical conduct. This

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