Utilitarianism Vs Cultural Ethical Relativism Essays -

Utilitarianism Vs Cultural Ethical Relativism Utilitarianism is an example of Consequentialist Ethics, where the morality of an action is determined by its accomplishing its desired results. In both scenarios the desired result was to save the lives of thousands of people in the community. Therefore, a Utilitarian would say that the actions taken in both of the scenarios are moral. Since an (Act) Utilitarian believes that actions should be judged according to the results it achieves. Happiness should not be simply ones own, but that of the greatest number. In both scenarios, the end result saved the lives of 5,000 members of the community. The end result is the only concern and to what extreme is taken to reach this result is of no matter. In these instances the things that are lost are an Inmates religious beliefs or a mothers fetus, on the other hand Thousands of citizens were saved from dying from this disease. In the Scenario I, a Utilitarian would view the inmate as having a higher sense of moral obligation. From a Utilitarian perspective, the inmate should have acted out of a general desire to do what is right for the benefit of all, not simply for his own happiness, even if it meant going against his religion. The Utilitarian would also view the prison officials behavior as moral. This is because one man endured the pain and suffering, but from that, 5,000 other people had much happier lives. Even if the inmate had eventually killed himself, a Utilitarian would still view the acts as moral. In Scenario II, it is more difficult to discern exactly what an (Act) Utilitarian would say about the morality of the choices made since these choices bring pain in suffering to a greater number of people. The loss of three fetuses, that were not otherwise going to be aborted, would have a tremendous effect on many people. The mothers and their families would experience a great deal of pain and suffering over this loss. However, when weighed with the happiness brought to thousand of cured people, a Utilitarian would say the acts were moral. Since utilitarianism states that in any situation where there is a moral choice to make, the right thing to do is that which is likely to produce the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people. (B) Since different cultures have different moral practices, it is necessary to specify the culture under examination here. In American culture, and specifically within the 5000 member community, a CER would not take exception to the violation of the convicts religious culture in order to secure his blood. In Scenario 1 the CER could argue that the convict was standing for what was morally right for him and the entire Christian Science religion. Since to refrain from any medical treatment for fear of meddling with gods ultimate plan is their moral practice, and although this may have differed from the other 5000 in the community, the action of performing the transfusion was immoral to the Christian Science religious culture. In contrast to the numbers that could dying due to acting morally, for the culture of the community as a whole it was a moral action risking one individuals personal morals to save the entire population of the community. The CER might see the community as a culture a nd everyone within that community as having the same moral values, since the inmate was a part of that community these morals by undergoing medical intervention by having a blood transfusion and saving the community was the more moral action. (C) The Utilitarian position is not entirely correct in my opinion. One implication of Utilitarianism is that every time one makes a decision, one tries to take into account all the possible results of that action. But those results will be constantly changing, since everything that happens continues to have repercussions that are not known at the time. In which case, there can never be a moment at which it is possible to say that the amount of happiness caused will definitely outweigh the amount of harm. One is never in a position to know with absolute certainty the relative amounts of happiness or pain that any action will cause.

Beasts from Within and Without essays

Beasts from Within and Without essays The Lord of the Flies, which I strangely enjoyed, developed many thoughts in my mind. One of which was the idea of some kind of beast was inside me, and all humans. In the novel by William Golding, more than one form of this beast came to be, a physical form, an emotional form, and a mental form. The most noticeable beast is the beasts physical appearance. A small boys imagination bringing vines to life, a mans body floating from an attacked plane, and a sows head on a spike are the main appearances of the creature. A littlun first flashes the idea of a beast because of a childish thought. The parachutist careens down becoming a puppet of the wind creating an unreal fantasy. The sows head propped up speaking with Simon likewise gives a ghastly feeling of a spook. These views of the beast are easiest to identify and do not require much thought or digging to determine. The way each facade was expressed by each scenario illustrates expected characteristics of a beast. One beast type is the fear that is passed through each generation to strike terror in the hearts of the immature. Piggy knelt by him, one hand on the great shell, listening and interpreting to the assembly. He wants to know what youre going to do about the snake-thing. Ralph laughed, and the other boys laughed with him. The small boy twisted further into himself. (Pg 35) This small boy, barely able to relate to any real world experiences, dreamed of a monster. Thinking these visions were real, the rumor was spread around that there was a beastie roaming around. Each boy that came to the assembly had an imagination as powerful as the birth-marked boy; they all feared this make believe snake-thing. Also, As if it wasnt a good island. Astonished at the interruption, the looked up at Simons serious face. A ...

Exam 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Exam 2 - Essay Example This theoretical model posits that all these forms of bias bear monetary cost that result in lowering the wage level for women even where women and men have the same productive capacity. Statistical discrimination theory refers to the use of statistics – real or assumed – by employers to predict the behavior of a particular group of people and therefore use it as a basis to judge their capabilities, worth, employability and so on. For example an employer could judge the individual woman on the basis of their beliefs about what women do on â€Å"average† (Blau, Ferber, and Winkler 218). The overcrowding model proposes that labor market discrimination results when particular groups â€Å"crowd† to particular jobs either as preference or out of lack of alternatives which results in an oversupply of labor for the few jobs available. Here, the market law of demand and supply makes that group disadvantaged in terms of wages. Finally, the institutional model states that discrimination arises from rigid, internal institutional structures and execution of normal everyday operations of the firm. The institutional model advances that organizations have primary / core jobs and secondary / non-core jobs which offer different levels of growth, benefits and so on. Thus the tract within which an individual starts her career, under the normal company policies, ends up affecting her career progression, wages and benefits and so on (Blau, Ferber, and Winkler 223). The major pieces of legislation enacted in the U.S. to tackle labor market discrimination are the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 focused on eliminating wage discrimination for the same job in the same firm and did not address discrimination in hiring, promotion, training programs, and so on. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was more

International Relations politics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

International Relations politics - Essay Example My purpose is only to highlight the importance of the existence of these schools of thoughts in the field of IR as a disciple and science. The last part of this paper, I address the purpose of IR and conclude that the IR as a discipline attempts to depict the picture of world affairs. I end this paper with a brief conclusion. The study of IR as a discipline significantly evolved after the First World War. However, many scholars and theorists use historical data for their analysis of IR.1 In the centuries before the First World War, one can perceive IR more as a combination of several disciplines such as Law, History and Philosophy rather than discipline on itself (Hollis & Smith 1990: p. 16). Some prominent historical philosophers who are often referred to in IR are Plato, Paine and Hobbes. These historical philosophers each addressed the study of IR in their own way. However, it was in the twentieth-century that the field of IR significantly evolved as many scholars diversified. The contribution of American and British scholars was significant and thus, American and British scholars dominated the field of IR for decades. ... f thoughts or whatever one prefers to name it, that one can identify in the field of IR were notable developed as scholars provided more empirical and epistemological data to the field of IR. However, this intensified the debate between these schools of thoughts and opened the door for new debates between scholars of IR. I agree with Walt that for the case of contemporary IR, the most crucial question is which school of thought sheds the most light on IR. Although IR might be perceived as a discipline or a science on itself, it is obvious that the nature of IR can be traced back to time of the Ancient Greek with the work of Thucydides and Plato and IR developed throughout the course of history. Several theories in International Relations In the nineteenth and especially in the twentieth century, the development of IR as a social science discipline has led to many theories that attempt to provide a theoretical and empirical framework to analyze the field of IR. Each of these schools of thoughts that were developed by theorists and scholars provide basic principles on which each framework is based upon. It is crucial to understand the basic principles of some of these schools of thoughts in order to understand the complexity of the study of IR. For this reason, in the following sector I will briefly discuss the basic principles of Realism, Liberalism and IO. Realism One of the most imperative schools of thought in the field of IR is Realism. Within this school of thought, one can identify several strands of realism such as classical realism, liberal realism and neo-realism.2 Among scholars and social scientist, Realism is perceived as the leading theory in the field of IR. Gilpin even argues that one should perceive realism as "a philosophical disposition"

Leadership Styles Essay Example for Free

Leadership Styles Essay The leadership styles of the United States Presidents can make them effective or it can limit their effectiveness. The effectiveness of the President has direct effect on the American people. Presidents Dwight Eisenhower and John Kennedy were two leaders that had major influences in the mid-20th century. Both men played a key role in the United States involvement in Vietnam. The experiences, styles of leading, and characteristics of both President’s Dwight Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy intensified the level of involvement the United States had in the Vietnam experience. Even though the leadership styles may have differed, the two leaders refused to let communism spread (Moss, 2010). Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy’s leadership style although different had similar qualities. President Eisenhower and Kennedy could be considered to have the leadership styles of both the â€Å"Director† and â€Å"Navigator†. Thomas Preston has explained a Director style is a leader with â€Å"both extensive policy experience and a high need for power† (Preston, 2001). Directors have direct involvement in policy process by setting guidelines and advocating for their own personal views. The Navigator also has extensive expertise in policy but they also search for the opinions and viewpoints of other advisors. Navigators will gather the information and from the multiple different perspectives have a more deliberate decision making style. Without having a Navigator sense of style, the effectiveness of any leader can be limited because of a lack of information gathered and reviewed for decision. President Eisenhower proved his leadership style by the way he was involved in the political unrest in Vietnam. According to Preston, President Eisenhower â€Å"preferred formal, hierarchically organized advisory structure where information and advice could be centralized into a small inner circle of advisers† (Preston, 2001). However because of the President’s expertise in foreign policy he had a very active personal role in the policy process and delegated very little to other expert advisors. Eisenhower’s own preferences in policy lead to the policy decisions. President Eisenhower gave the command to intervene in southern Vietnam and replace the French (Moss, 2010). This was to maintain a non-Communist state thereby halting the potential spread of Communism. President Kennedy was interested in multiple perspectives on policy; he listened to different sources on conflicting views and planned for debates prior to decision making (Preston, 2001). Kennedy wanted political rest and peace in Vietnam but knew that without US involvement, the fighting and attacks on Vietnam would increase. Because of this, the United States became more heavily involved which meant more military forces and money being spent. Kennedy had made decisions to violate the provisions of the Geneva agreements of 1954, thereby increasing the U.S. military significantly in Vietnam. â€Å"Kennedy was not trying to win in Vietnam: he was doing only enough not to lose† (Moss, 2010). This sense of leadership by Kennedy was devised to protect the U.S. by only having a limited partnership with the Vietnam government. For President Kennedy, as a Director, he kept active involvemen t in policy process and needed assurance that his own thoughts and ideas would dominate the end result. However, as the Navigator, he trusted his advisory team and kept an open advisory system â€Å"characterized by a mixed formal-informal advice network† (Preston, 2001). With the dual leadership style the President called for the heavy military involvement in Vietnam in 1965 (Moss, 2010). By having expertise in foreign affairs and taking the advice of his advisors, President Kennedy made the important decision to become more involved in the war efforts. For the United States, the President’s leadership is very important. The President is the countries representation. It is both very prestigious and powerful to be voted in as President of the United States. The President has the ability to keep the United States from war, or send us to war. The President is in charge of the military, deciding where troops should be stationed and how weapons should be used. That is great power, and without the backing of the American people the President and his cabinet wouldn’t be as powerful as they are. The American people need to know that the President has their best interest in mind. In conclusion, regardless of who the President is, the need for leadership is of great importance. By having both the Director and Navigator style leadership, the role of the President can be effective. The expertise, the desire to have a powerful role but also having the willingness to view other opinions for decision making is essential to making a great leader. The role the President has to be one that is inspiring to the American people but also the American people need to trust their leader, without trust there would be weakness.

Feminism in Uncle Toms Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe Essay -- Femini

Feminism in Uncle Tom’s Cabin  Ã‚   While Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin overtly deals with the wrongs of slavery from a Christian standpoint, there is a subtle yet strong emphasis on the moral and physical strength of women. Eliza, Eva, Aunt Chloe, and Mrs. Shelby all exhibit remarkable power and understanding of good over evil in ways that most of the male characters in Stowe’s novel. Even Mrs. St. Claire, who is ill throughout most of the book, proves later that she was always physically in control of her actions, however immoral they were. This emotional strength, when compared with the strength of the male characters, shows a belief in women as equals to men (if not more so) uncommon to 19th century literature. In 1848, the first ever Women’s Rights convention was held in Seneca Falls, New York. Though Stowe did not attend, many of those who were strong in the abolitionist movement, such as Fredrick Douglas and Amy Post, did. Thus a correlation was drawn between the abolitionist movement and women’s rights. Both fights were about equality, so naturally those who were supportive of emancipation were supportive of gender equality as well. Uncle Tom’s Cabin not only follows the life of Uncle Tom, spanning from the time he is sold from his longtime master until Tom’s death, but also follows the life of Eliza, another slave who lives on the Shelby plantation with Tom as the novel begins. But unl... ...Topsy, but help her repent as well, for Topsy later says, "I will try, I will try; I never did care nothin' about it before" (94). Uncle Tom’s Cabin contains almost as basic of a moral as any story could; love has no physical barriers. The goal of Stowe’s novel is to show that in terms of race. But at the same time Stowe shows it in terms of gender as well. By making the female characters more morally righteous than the male characters and displaying the women’s physical feats more overtly than the men’s, Stowe enables the audience to see a side of women relatively unseen in 19th century American culture. Works Cited Stowe, Harriet Beecher. "Uncle Tom’s Cabin." New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1927    Feminism in Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe Essay -- Femini Feminism in Uncle Tom’s Cabin  Ã‚   While Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin overtly deals with the wrongs of slavery from a Christian standpoint, there is a subtle yet strong emphasis on the moral and physical strength of women. Eliza, Eva, Aunt Chloe, and Mrs. Shelby all exhibit remarkable power and understanding of good over evil in ways that most of the male characters in Stowe’s novel. Even Mrs. St. Claire, who is ill throughout most of the book, proves later that she was always physically in control of her actions, however immoral they were. This emotional strength, when compared with the strength of the male characters, shows a belief in women as equals to men (if not more so) uncommon to 19th century literature. In 1848, the first ever Women’s Rights convention was held in Seneca Falls, New York. Though Stowe did not attend, many of those who were strong in the abolitionist movement, such as Fredrick Douglas and Amy Post, did. Thus a correlation was drawn between the abolitionist movement and women’s rights. Both fights were about equality, so naturally those who were supportive of emancipation were supportive of gender equality as well. Uncle Tom’s Cabin not only follows the life of Uncle Tom, spanning from the time he is sold from his longtime master until Tom’s death, but also follows the life of Eliza, another slave who lives on the Shelby plantation with Tom as the novel begins. But unl... ...Topsy, but help her repent as well, for Topsy later says, "I will try, I will try; I never did care nothin' about it before" (94). Uncle Tom’s Cabin contains almost as basic of a moral as any story could; love has no physical barriers. The goal of Stowe’s novel is to show that in terms of race. But at the same time Stowe shows it in terms of gender as well. By making the female characters more morally righteous than the male characters and displaying the women’s physical feats more overtly than the men’s, Stowe enables the audience to see a side of women relatively unseen in 19th century American culture. Works Cited Stowe, Harriet Beecher. "Uncle Tom’s Cabin." New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1927   

Factors Affecting Organizational Behavior Essay

All companies today have internal and external forces that impact organizational behavior. The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of internal and external forces on organizational behavior. The four forces we will discuss are, customer demands relating to Sinclair Oil, economic forces outside of Select Portfolio Servicing, restructuring within Nestle, and globalization factors relating to Northrop Grumman. Customer Demands Customer demands have a large impact on organizational behavior (OB) of the Sinclair Oil Corporation (SOC). SOC owns and operates three oil refineries, a trucking division, a pipeline division, the retail service stations, and eight hotels and resorts. The diverse nature of the company leads to many different customer demands. The oil refineries have two types of customers. The first is the retail service stations. The refineries must produce enough finished product each day to supply the service stations in 17 different states. The second type of customer is the federal government. Over the last eight years SOC has held the contract to provide jet fuel to Hill Air Force base. The average amount of finished product produced at the refineries is 600 hundred thousand barrels a day. This output is usually enough to supply the service stations needs and have some oil to put into reserve. Working conditions within the refinery are inherently dangerous, if production cannot keep up with demands operators often begin to feel additional pressure to keep pace; this distress can lead to additional dangers. There are three different types of hotels and resorts within the SOC/Little America organization. There are roadside properties, which cater to travelers and tourists, the elegant hotels and the ski resorts. Each type of property gears itself and its organizational behavior towards the customer base. The roadside properties, such as Little America Cheyenne, have a more casual approach to the customers; due to the affluent nature at the Grand America the environment is formal. The resorts are highly influenced with a European flair. This help the customers feel a sense of adventure. Economy While customer demands are one of the primary forces on SOC, economic forces greatly impact the OB of Select Portfolio Servicing (SPS). SPS is a mortgage servicing company. The resource group or hardship group is within the loan resolution department. Loan resolution assists borrowers who have fallen delinquent on their mortgage. The resource group assists customers that have hardship, such as, illness, death, loss of employment for extended periods of time, and property damage. When the economy falters the activities of loan resolution are in higher demand. Loan resolution and the resource group profit off the economic hardship of their customers. The purpose of loan resolution is to turn loss into profit for their investors. Loan resolution limits or prevents the loss which the investor experiences when a customer defaults. Loan resolution is paid based off of the percentage of delinquent accounts that they get re-performing, get paid in full, or liquidate for a loss. With the faulty economy there is more a more work that loan resolution must perform. Loan resolution is understaffed and overworked. The influx of high phone call volumes has caused little time for the resource group to complete their administrative duties. Morale is low department wide, largely due to the administration feeling they are performing two jobs daily. Answering phone calls and trying to complete the work the inbound calls generate cannot be completed eight hours a day. While loan resolution’s numbers still satisfy the investors giving them business, the administrative departments, such as, the resource group are becoming stressed and overwhelmed with a never-ending workload. Restructuring Economic factors affect companies like SPS and Nestlà © alike, but Nestle has chosen restructuring as the answer to its dilemma. Nestle is suffering from  the â€Å"big elephant† syndrome. In the old market diversifying and buying up the competition allowed it to survive and prosper, but in the new economy which is consumer driven the â€Å"big elephant† has been asked â€Å"to dance† for the customer. Nestle must rise to the challenge of change or it will be driven into extinction. The strategic decision makers at Nestle are trying to â€Å"trim the fat† on the elephant, and they have turned to organizational behavior to restructure their workforce. Globalization and technology have evened out the playing field for Nestle and its competition. Nestle as well as the competition is able to obtain the same raw materials at the same prices, and technology has allowed each company quick and efficient ways to process information. So, where will Nestle find its sustainable competitive advantage for the future? The innovation and the motivation of its employees will be the source of its sustainable advantage. Nestle needs to find a way of unlocking this source of intellectual capital. The corporate leaders feel restructuring is the key. This restructuring process has changed the organizational behavior of the company from a rigid hierarchical structure to a facilitator driven, empowered employee structure. The organization believes improving speed at the point of execution will make the business more successful, and it is the front line employees that are at the point of execution. To develop empowered employees organizational behavioral changes needed to be made. Monthly training has taken place on subjects like: change, communication, one hundred percent responsibility, situational leadership, and teamwork so far. Layers of supervision have been cut, and reincorporated into the workforce. Supervisors are being groomed as coaches and facilitators, instead micromanaging. Equipment operators are learning mechanical â€Å"first aid† to fix small problems and improve efficiency. A mentoring program has been instituted, so that empowered employees with positive attitudes are the role models for new workers. Globalization Northrop Grumman Corporation (NGC) considers itself a world class leader in  the production of military defense products. Many of these products are created for, and consumed by, customers in the United States, but many are also created and sold to companies and or countries all over the world. The company’s current position has not been easy to reach. Maintaining and growing this position requires constant vigilance in an ever expanding global market place. In fact, global factors in today’s economy have forced the company to make constant internal improvements to remain competitive in the global market. Exportation of intellectual property and gains in technological advances and capabilities of companies in countries abroad have resulted in more foreign competition. The entry of additional competitors in the defense business market has forced companies like NGC to look closely at internal business processes to find ways to gain or maintain a competitive edge. NGC has learned to modify the organizations overall behavior by training individuals in the use of business methods such as LEAN, Six Sigma and Training Within Industry (TWI). The following is a simplified description of what each of these business methods is intended to do. LEAN is specifically used to improve processes, manage inventory and manage movement of product throughout the production phase as well as eliminate practices which don’t add value. Six Sigma is applied as a tool to measure critical processes in a way that insures they stay under control. This is essentially done by setting control limits and then collecting data and analyzing the trends or movement of data as it relates to the control limits. TWI is being employed to ensure that every employee has the proper skill set to function within their specified job requirements. This training process employs a regiment of training that teaches, measures what has been learned, as well as maintains critical training information and/or tricks of the trade. This training method also provides the company with details of each employee’s specific capabilities and certifications. These internal changes have proven themselves invaluable to the company, saving NGC time, money, and valuable recourses as well as assist them in monitoring the company’s daily business. Most of all, changes in NGC’s OBhas been noticed by a number of the company’s customers who have noted the positive impact.