Classical Utilitarianism In The Meatpacking Factory

Utilitarianism: “The idea that an action is right, as long as it promotes happiness, and that the greatest happiness of the greatest number should be the guiding principle of conduct (Oxford Dictionaries).” This theory was thought up as far back as the 17th century, but didn’t become well known until late into the 18th century when Jeremy Bentham a legal and social reformer gave a powerful presentation of the idea. “Create all the happiness you are able to create; remove all the misery you are able to remove. Every day will allow you, will invite you to add something to the pleasure of others, or to diminish something of their pains (Jeremey Bentham).” Deontology: “An ethical theory that the morality of an action should be based on whether

In today 's society, we face many obstacles in our attempt to achieve the feeling of happiness. As intelligent beings, we try to solve these problems by taking the path that best benefits us. The theory of utilitarianism provides a solution to this but at what cost? What are the benefits and disadvantages of utilitarianism? Is utilitarianism an idea one should live by? What is utilitarianism? I plan on answering these questions within this paper and understand how they relate to everyday life. I will also look at arguments for and against utilitarianism. Then analyze the appealing and unappealing features to determine if utilitarianism should be followed as an absolute rule.

Religion in the workplace can introduce some of the most challenging concerns employers have to tackle. Solving these issues involves an understanding of the law as well as attempting to balance the business 's needs with an employee 's desire to practice his or her religion. One of the most controversial conflicts when dealing with religion in the workplace is between an employee 's desire to take time off to acknowledge religious days or holidays and the potential reduction in productivity and profitability.

Since our country has a great diversity, employers may decide to hire their employees from a great variety of countries and different religious backgrounds. In an ideal work environment, the religious beliefs of a given employee, or the employer, do not have a conflict. Each individual is free to believe as he or she chooses and, as the work gets done right, neither of them will encounter difficulty with religion. However, in the real world, a good bit of issues can arise to create problems. An employee and employer may discuss, or even argue over, religious principles. What is more, religion is not always simply a matter of belief. The faithful practice their religion through various actions – styles of dres, manner of keeping or wearing one’s hair, follow certain diets, trying to recruit others to their faith, fasting, praying, avoiding certain language or behavior, and observing certain religious holidays.

The law forbids discrimination of religion to any aspect including hiring, firing, pay, job, promotions, layoffs and other terms or conditions of employment, however that does not stop it from happening. ABC news journalist, Morgan Winsor, publishes an article about Muslim employers stating they have been able to take prayer breaks until “a new policy beginning on Jan. 25” where “there is no additional accommodations for prayer” that is affecting not only their job but now their religious beliefs. Muslim employees are enraged that the Wisconsin Arien Company’s new policy is discriminating their right for prayer. The employee’s filed a discrimination report to U.S. Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC) hoping for a solution. The employees are being forced out, unless they obey the new policy, of Arien’s company that use to let Muslim workers take prayer breaks. The Title Vll of the Civil Right Act of 1964 requires, “employers to accommodate religious beliefs.” Winsor continues to state, “Arien’s management allegedly threatened to fire those employees who continued to pray beyond the scheduled breaks.” United States of America prohibits religious discrimination, especially when its affects citizen’s opportunity for employment. The Muslim’s Arien’s management suppresses the U.S. EEOC laws against discrimination therefore the company’s case

In this article, the author gives detailed information about how employers should accommodate religious practices in the workplace for Muslim workers. The article has four sections on accommodations: terms of their clothing, prayer breaks, restroom practices, and limits to interactive process. For example, they mentioned how Muslims should be given flexible schedules for their religious festivals such as Ramadhan. It is a very clear and well-written article.

(6)You should not kill an innocent (friendless but healthy) person EVEN IF by doing so (and giving his organs to several others) you could increase net happiness.

The Meatpacking Factory is a case study involving the decision of a factory manager to let his Muslim workers observe their faith by taking breaks at sunrise and sundown during their holy month of Ramadan. James Windham, the factory manager, thought their request was well warranted and felt he should be considerate of the religious beliefs of his employees. There are about 100 Muslim workers which represents 20% of the employee population at the factory. To Windham’s dismay, the breaks began having a significantly negative affect on productivity due to the ever shifting sunset and sundown times. Trying to accommodate a constantly changing schedule left Windham struggling to nail down a

Drew Goddard’s 2012 film The Cabin in the Woods is different from other horror film, which turns out to be Sci-fi, Fantasy and comedy. It portraits the common story like others in which five friends goes champing in an unfamiliar place, and during their journey they encounter unrealistic situation. This film, however, presents unpredictable humanity in the current world – those being emotionless, cruel and feeling pride in taking humans life. Since many centuries it’s been said that good overcomes evil but in this movie it shows that “evil is so victorious that the ending provides no hope whatsoever for the survival of humanity.” (MOVIEGUIDE.ORG) This movie shows an evil aspect on betting of human life as a source of pleasure and money but diverts the audience mentality towards rituals and religion. The film justifies human behavior, by the act of the people in the facility who conducts the ritual of sacrificing human by the hands of evil. This is understood in three following ways, firstly one can notice the behavior of an old man at the gas station which is the main factor for leading the five friends into dead zone. Which concludes his intention are evil. Secondly, the people from the facility plays role in the sequence of events which shows that they have no souls left. Finally there

There are some questions in this life we will ask and never receive an answer to. Not because the questioned simply does not want to answer but perhaps because they cannot answer. This theory falls into the classical utilitarianism line combined with rational choice theory (Barkan p. 93). In researching Edward Theodore Gein, I discovered this is one of those cases where “Why” never came to pass and he took to his own grave those unanswered questions. Did these acts of crime and necrophilia arise from the clear dysfunctional home life and upbringing or was Ed Gein simply a psychopath?

Thought experiments are hypothetical situations, which we use to explore certain concepts. In class, we used thought experiments to determine what a utilitarian would do to gain the most satisfaction in a few life-altering scenarios. Utilitarianism is not a term coined for doing the right thing, but rather doing what maximizes the most happiness. With this state of mind, the choices utilitarians make are not always moral. Utilitarians are believers that mankind is better off if our interest goes beyond our self but that doesn’t necessarily entitle selflessness.

The authors divide the article into four categories: garb and grooming practices, prayer breaks, restroom practices, and limits to the interactive process among Muslims (Fitzke et al.). These categories illustrate how employers should grant employees time for their held religious practices. The authors also state how employees of JBS, a meat processing company in Colorado and Nebraska, won a case against the management of the company (Fitzke et al.). According to the authors, “JBS failed to accommodate Muslim employees….to take unscheduled prayer breaks and moving a meal break to coincide with a required sunset prayer during Ramadhan” (Fitzke et al.). In contrast with the first primary source, this article was not a first-hand account whereas the primary source was an actual interview. This article is mainly about official regulations on how the employers have certain rules to

Religion in the workplace can bring up some of the most difficult issues employers have to face. Resolving these issues requires understanding the law and balancing the business's needs with an employee's desire to practice his or her religion. One of the most contentious conflicts is between an employee's desire to take time off and the potential reduction in productivity and profitability. In ruling on Title VII religion cases, the courts have held that employers aren't required to accommodate employees' religious activities when it involves increased financial costs, transferring supervisory personnel or employees from other departments resulting in inefficiency, or discriminating against other employees or violating seniority systems. Accommodations that don't constitute undue hardship to the employer include voluntary substitutions or employee "swaps," flexible work schedules, floating or optional holidays, staggered work hours, and allowing employees to make up lost time. Transfers and job changes also are options if they don't cause reduced efficiency or

Essentially, all the stakeholders involved should be offered their fair consideration in the business. As the owner of the bakery, if Nick had chose to overdo his profits and play down his losses, his business would probably continue to flourish as he will be receiving the loan of $100,000 from East West (EW) Bank. Because of Nick’s utilitarianism decision, Gwen and Ted got to keep their job even though the business at the bakery was struggling due to the slump in economy. And as a result of keeping Gwen, Molly has extra hands in keeping the bakery intact. Now, when Nick decided to change the business’ profits and losses to his benefit in order to get the loan granted, East West (EW) bank may suffer a loss from it if Nick does not have enough revenue to pay the loan back in the near future. It is considered ethical for Nick to overdo his profits and play down his losses on his loan application to East West (EW) Bank since it does the most good and provides the least harm. To put it in a different way, the utilitarianism approach creates the utmost balance of good over harm for Nick. Despite the fact that Nick forged his business’ profits and losses on his loan application, he managed to lend a helping hand to the other stakeholders and minimize the damage caused.

Utilitarianism is a limiting ethical theory that fails to grasp ethically reality. “The greatest good for the greatest number” is not ethically right in every situation. Although the majority would benefit, the minority will heavily suffer. Considering the overall consequences of our actions, the good may not always outweigh the bad, but this does mean that the good will be the ethically right thing to do. One may think they are “maximizing the overall good,” but in reality, harming many.