Just reply to the Post Two responses, need to be 200 words each.
One of your replies should identify the notion of the moral good in deontology and compare that to the account of utilitarianism in Starbucks presented in your fellow student's post. Analyze how these different notions of the moral good lead to different approaches with regard to how to address the problem even if, ultimately, the result turns out to be the same or similar.
One of your replies should identify the notion of the moral good in deontology and compare that to the account of utilitarianism in Starbucks presented in your fellow student's post. Analyze how these different notions of the moral good lead to different approaches with regard to how to address the problem even if, ultimately, the result turns out to be the same or similar.
For reference on starbucks
Tabberer, C. [ProfTab @ OkWU]. (2010, May 5). Starbucks social responsibility video [Video file]. Retrieved from
https://youtu.be/Nly_OdvORQY
This is a presentation of the company's history and product buying practices, as well a discussion of the crisis in the coffee industry.Reply to:
Utilitarianism-
The main characteristic of utilitarianism is consequences, more specifically weighing the consequences and selecting an action based on morality and favorability for everyone involved. One characteristic of this would be focusing on good moral conduct by examining the good and the bad, "moral conduct is in some way linked with human happiness and immoral conduct with unhappiness" (Fieser, J. 2015). Another characteristic of utilitarianism is to realize the affect the consequences will have on all parties involved. Considering how the action could affect not only yourself but will affect everyone involved. Mill's Utilitarianism suggests the purpose being "to maximize pleasure, or to reduce suffering" (Zúñiga y Postigo, G. 2015).
Virtue Ethics-
Virtue is the adverse of a vice and is the key aspect of honor and integrity. Aristotle defines the virtue of ethics as "experience happiness through excellence and fulfillment of one's nature" (Zúñiga y Postigo, G. 2015). It is "Understood as the highest moral good that is attainable by the consistent application of the GOLDEN MEAN to all actions" (Zúñiga y Postigo, G. 2015). A characteristic of ethics would be being goal-oriented and focused on a specific goal to better their situation and improve success for everyone involved. Another characteristic of ethics is honesty. To be ethical you must value honesty and be able to do what is right both legally and morally. Demonstration of ethics is a telling sign of a productive person with good moral character.
Deontology-
Deontological theory is the moral standards that we were born with; the level at which we naturally hole our moral guidelines. One characteristic of this would be treating others the way you would want to be treated. This is basic human knowledge, people know that if you do not want to be hurt you should not hurt other people. Another characteristic of this would be do what feel right. You know what is right and wrong, you know the consequences for doing wrong actions. Do what you know is right, that is duty. Simply put, according to Immanuel Kant the purpose of deontology is "to do what is objectively right" (Zúñiga y Postigo, G. 2015).
Starbucks was faced with an ethical dilemma in September 2003 when Howard Schultz, President and CEO of Starbucks wrote in an open letter to Americans, "today we are respectfully requesting that customers no longer bring firearms into our stores or outdoor seating areas-even in states where "open carry" is permitted-unless they are authorized law enforcement personnel" (Schultz, H., 2013). This caused an ethical dilemma because the former policy was that the stores followed local laws for the open carry of a firearm; if it was legal in the area they were in, it was allowed in their stores. A situation such as this had American gun owners very angry as they believe the organization should respect their 2nd Amendment right to bear arms.
Prior to this letter being released, pro-gun activist were beginning to use Starbucks store locations as a political stage to praise open carry in America. This was bringing unwanted attention to the stores and making customers feel uncomfortable. I believe a utilitarianism approach was used in this situation to attempt to solve the problem. Mr. Howard Schultz weighted the consequences of all sides in this matter. To examine this, let's look at all 3 sides of this; the everyday American customer did not necessarily mind if there was open carry in the store where it was legal but they did oppose to the stores turning into a political stage and bringing unwanted attention to the place they go to relax. The pro-gun, open carry Americans; Starbucks actually made the "leave your guns at home" a request not an outright ban. They asked for gun owners to be respectful of this request. Finally, to the employees; this was make as a request mainly because they did not want employees of theirs to confront people that came in with an open carry.
From weighing all of these, I believe the best good moral conduct decision was to put a request not people to not open carry in their stores. Although, I personally believe that businesses should follow the local state or county laws for open carry. This decision made the most people feel happy and safe in their locations. As a president and CEO, Mr. Schultz had to make the decision that he found to be most beneficial to most people.
References:
Dr. Fieser, James, Introduction to Business Ethics, Second Edition. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
Howard Schultz, (2013) An Open Letter from Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks Coffee Company, www.starbucks.com
Zúñiga y Postigo, G. (2015). The moral good in three traditional ethical theories [PowerPoint Slides]
Second reply:
Utilitarianism can be identified as "an action is morally right if the consequences of that action are more favorable than unfavorable to everyone." (Fieser, J., 2015). Two characteristics associated with Utilitarianism are focuses in consequences of happiness and unhappiness and beneficial consequences of actions to everyone else. When addressing the first characteristic, I believe the focus in consequences of happiness and unhappiness pertains to the emotions after the act. If the act is immoral, it generally will give off a sense of unhappiness. On the contrary, if the act is moral, then it will do the opposite and provide a good sense of emotions for completing a good deed. The second characteristic examines the beneficial consequences of actions to everyone else. Basically, the idea behind this characteristic is to think about the impact the act will have on the individuals involve and close to that individual.
"Virtue theory is the view that morality is grounded in the virtuous character traits that people acquire" (Fieser, J., 2015). Two characteristics associated with virtue ethics are overindulgence and insensibility. Overindulgence happens when an individual feeds in to much into pleasure of an act, and insensibility occurs when the pleasure avoided therefore causing a deficiency in the feeling of pleasure for the act.
"Duty theory is the position that moral standards are grounded in instinctive rational obligations-or duties-that we have" (Fieser, J., 2015). The catalog of instinctive obligations and single principle of duty are both characteristics that fall under deontology. The catalog of instinctive obligation refers to common rules recognize by worldwide such declaring stealing an immoral act which is known throughout all countries. Furthermore, the single principle of duty relates to an individual acting in a way that he or she would like others to act.
Now that I have discusses the theories associated with moral decisions, I would like to take a look at Starbucks decision to use Utilitarianism as their standard of business practice for making moral decisions. One ethical problem presented in the textbook was whether Starbucks was a moral corporation. When applying the utilitarianism theory, it is evident that Starbucks is a moral corporation because it shows signs of the two characteristics: consequences of happiness and unhappiness along with the beneficial consequences of actions to everyone else. Starbucks business plan is to promote happiness not just to its' customers but also to its' employees and the farming industry. As a result, Starbucks behavior towards its' employees provides positive influence to their work ethics which in turn promotes good customer service.