...Egoism By Jenny Taylor Philosophy P120 October 30, 2011 Egoism is “The moral view that everyone ought always to do those acts that will best serve his or her own best self-interest.” (Pojman & Fieser page87) It is contrasted with altruism, “an unselfish regard of concern for others”. This essay will explain the relation between psychological egoism and ethical egoism. It will examine how someone who believes in psychological egoism explains the apparent instances of altruism. It will also discuss some arguments in favor of universal ethical egoism, and exam Pojman's critique of arguments for and against universal ethical egoism. Psychological egoism, a descriptive claim about human nature, states that humans by nature are motivated only by self-interest. To act in one's self-interest is to act mainly for one's own good and loving what is one's own (i.e. ego, body, family, house, belongings in general). It means to give one's own interests higher priority than others'. "It (psychological egoism) claims that we cannot do other than act from self-interest motivation, so that altruism-the theory that we can and should sometimes act in favor of others' interests-is simply invalid because it's impossible" (Pojman 85). According to psychological egoists, any act no matter how altruistic it might seem, is actually motivated by some selfish desire of the agent (i.e., desire for reward, avoidance of guilt, personal happiness). For someone who believes...
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...company to its internal and external sources whenever needed without any disputes or errors . • Paid taxes on time An Accountant can help the company by paying taxes on time. There will be no need to calculate taxes separately as it will be calculated by the accountant which will in turn save the time and hence can be used in some effective and efficient manner. Apart from this he can also provide much relevant information related to taxes like : • Amount to put aside per month for tax bills • What type of taxes will have to pay and when will have to pay them? • What expenses can be claimed? • Is there any need to set up a business bank account and what happens if the company doesn’t? • Does the company need public liability insurance or Professional indemnity? What could be at risk if the company has a problem in a client’s office? • How do the track of money coming in and going...
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...Although, some businesses still do not enforce it, ethics and values play an important role in everyday life as well as professional life. Professional ethics and values are key factors to career success. Ethics are rules and guidelines that companies impose on the employees; it is the code of conduct for the company. Values are the principles that we believe are most important in our lives. Different professional settings will have different ethics and values. Business ethics were established more than 2,000 years ago but weren’t often enforced until the social responsibility movement of the 1960's. Business were profiting from this country's resources so it was brought up by the public that they should accept social responsibility and do business ethically (Leadership Values and Ethics: Secrets of Leadership Success - By Susan M. Heath field). Over the years business owners have learned how to recognize the value of enforcing ethics in the work environment because they know that a professional setting without ethics is in danger of decreased productivity and survival. There is always different types of people with different personalities, and different values working at a company, in order for people to get along with each other and be productive, there is a need to set up rules and make sure everyone follow those rules otherwise there will be a lot of miss understanding and disagreement between coworkers causing productivity level to decrease (Newman, 2010). ...
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...Executive Summary This report provides an analysis on how ethical conflicts arise in the actuarial profession. Through extensive research we uncover many conflicts of interest and ethical dilemmas that actuaries can face during their everyday work and careers. In particular we look at how genetic factors and rating criterion create conflict. We look at ethical conflict with respect to testimony, pension and reserve actuaries, and also how external watchdogs play a role in auditing actuaries’ decisions. We found that actuaries must always be alert and prepared to deal with these ethical conflicts. They must be aware that their actions can have an impact on the financial future of a company, the insurance rates of an individual, or otherwise could result in a problem for themselves. They must also be aware that there are external watchdogs in place to make sure they are not forging numbers but are instead making informed and accurate decisions. We recommend that students who intend to pursue actuarial studies take a course called Introduction to Actuarial Practice (MTHEL 131). We also recommend that the faculty should modify this course to put more weight on professionalism and ethics to emphasise the importance of the subject. This will educate students so they can make informed and ethically sound decisions in their future careers. Table of Contents 1.0 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………....…....…1 2.0 Methods…………………………………………………………………......…………....……3 3...
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...Individual Assignment HIH Insurance Report Student Name: Jinyun Wang Student ID: MIT122634 Lecturer Name: Susan Currie Tutor Name: Susan Currie Due Date: 29 / 1 / 2014 Submitted date: 7/ 2/ 2014 by email Executive Summary The auditing profession plays a significant role in industrialized economies for many years. In the insurance industry, the manner of auditing profession is regulated. The collapse of Health International Holdings (HIH) was recorded as the biggest corporate collapse in the history of Australia. Also an investigation of Royal Commission was warranted by the HIH collapse. Two questions considered in the failures of HIH Insurance: Did the auditors implement their responsibilities and roles? Did the auditors fulfil their auditing work ethically? This report provides an analysis of auditing issues arising from the collapse of HIH Insurance. Among factors that have gave rise to the corporate failure of HIH Insurance, that of the ethics of auditing profession, roles of auditors and effectiveness of audit committee have regarded as particular significance. Contents Executive Summary 2 1. Introduction 4 2. Discussion 5 2.1 Audit Independence 5 2.2 Audit Committee 7 2.3 Ethical Considerations 8 3. Conclusion 10 Reference List 11 1. Introduction HIH Insurance was established when MW Payne Liability Agencies Pty Ltd was incorporated by Michael Payne and Ray Williams joining together to do business of insurance underwriter in Australia in...
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...Life Insurance Price Discrimination on Indigenous Australians The ethical conflict For many years, the average life expectancy for Indigenous Australians has been lower than the non-indigenous population. Although the life expectancy gap has been gradually decreasing from 2005 to 2012, the remaining differences of 10.6 for males and 9.5 for females are still problematic for the future welfare of the Aboriginal community (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2014). Also, it persists a big challenge to the society as a whole. From the life insurance company’s perspective, the existence of statistical evidence means that insured who belongs to Indigenous population is highly likely to bring more risk to the pool. Correspondingly, a higher premium should be charged to cover the higher death risk this particular group is entitled to. However, discriminating based on Aboriginal status has been increasingly questioned and many people believe that such practice violates the social equality and is simply unfair to the Aboriginal community. The ethical dilemma faced by insurance companies is whether they should sacrifice the benefit of the minority in order to achieve the best possible outcome for the majority. The moral principle of utilitarianism may provide justification for why insurer chooses to charge different premiums for Aboriginal people. However, those who believe more in deontology will argue that the maximum benefit achieved for everyone under the utilitarianism ethical...
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...of Business Code of Ethics This paper is discussing the business code ethics of Famers Insurance Company. Farmers Insurance Company first established a reputation in the Insurance industry in 1928 and was founded by two men that shared commonalities of wanting to provide valuable insurance services at an affordable price to consumers. The mission statement that Farmers cherishes states today, “We will achieve market leadership by driving innovation and operational excellence to provide the best value and experience for every customer we are privileged to serve” (Foremost Insurance, 2012). Currently, Farmers Insurance reigns as an industry leader standing as the country’s third- largest insurer of homeowners and car insurance and offers lots of other different insurance and financial services (Farmers, 2012). Abiding by a code of ethics was of great importance to co-founders Jack Tyler and Thomas Leavey. In the insurance industry, most concerns that policyholders express are, “Will I Be Covered” and “Will I Be Compensated Fairly”. Ideally, Farmers Insurance found dedication in following a set of core values that parent company Zurich established for agents, brokers, investors, and employees to abide by that would allow business operations to flourish and remain stable in even the most uncertain times. Farmers Insurance focuses on several core components that represent ethical democracy; honesty, customer centricity, creating sustainable value, excellence, and teamwork...
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...Saquoia Cox Professor Currie ACC647Z2 3 October 2015 Legal and Ethical Issues Business Owners Face Legal and ethical issues play a big part in the operation of a business for many owners. Business owners have to take into account many issues such as legal, regulations, safety, liability and brand of the company. Business owners must know their legal responsibilities and code of ethics, because they have to adhere to both when running a business. Many business owners face these issue everyday with changing regulations and laws, making sure that their reporting is ethical and up to standards. "Navigating all of the legislative and regulatory changes that occur throughout the course of the year can be challenging, taking business owners away from other important aspects of running their businesses," said Martin Mucci, Paychex president and CEO. Business owners have to follow state and federal labor laws which can be very taxing on business owners. Business owners have to monitor their tax reforms, because with the Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2014 the processing of taxes will affect the way that business owners have budgeted for their businesses. Business owners are also affected by new health reforms which state that “employers must be prepared to meet new IRS mandates to file annual information returns with the IRS and provide statements to their full-time employees about the health insurance coverage the employer offers” (Brooks, 2015) Business owners have to know...
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...company also offer’s cash rewards to those that bring in referrals. Nick claims the highest reward he can ever have is when he has made people financially independent and protected so they can go on living the life they have always desired. The ethical issues involving MCA are the fact that there advertising must be consistent with what they offer. There is an imperative for Nick to identify the company’s company plan and make sure that their insurance packages have required coverage. In Motor Club of America the insurance coverage is legally bound to protect those when on the road. Meaning to take advantage of the insurance one must be having a problem with their vehicle and no other property, personal injury outside the vehicle, and legal troubles such as being arrested. They offer a written contract agreement that is paid for on a monthly basis. A major perk to the company is that even clients can make money by referring friends to purchase subscriptions. One referral alone can end up paying someone’s monthly fees, and any additional leads to personal revenue. Nick said he has had people get a ticket and use MCA plan to get a lawyer and fight the ticket and that was fine. However, people have tried to use MCA for an insurance policy in...
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...number of Directors were found to have breached their duties as directors under the Corporations Act and were banned from any involvement in company management for significant terms and hit with substantial financial penalties 2. Identify three parties impacted by HIH’s unethical actions and how they were impacted. Shareholders of HIH are likely to incur significant losses on their investment, perhaps their entire capital. The extent of these losses will be revealed over time. Immediately following the collapse of HIH, numerous reports appeared in the press about HIH policyholders not having their insurance contracts honored and their claims not paid. This section discusses how different policyholders were affected immediately after the collapse. 3. Why do you think that timing is important in ethical behaviour?...
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...An analysis of American International Group (AIG) indicates that it is a multinational insurance corporation that operates across the globe with around 88 million customers in its database. The company accounts for employing more than 64000 people across 90 countries. There are three major types of businesses that are currently operated by the company and these include AIG Property Casualty, AIG Life and Retirement and United Guarantee Corporation. These are the three important divisions that are noted in respect to AIG and they accounts for providing different insurance products and services to its customers. As for instance, AIG Property Casualty accounts for providing insurance products especially in respect to segments involving commercial, institutional and individual customers whereas AIG Life accounts for providing life insurance and retirement services to its customers. With regard to the UGC section, it focuses on providing mortgage guarantee insurance and mortgage insurance to its customers. Thus, the AIG Group as a whole accounts for providing insurance services of different categories to its larger customer database that is widely diversified, and its services are available throughout the globe. Following the financial crisis of 2008, the financial industry suffered backlash from the public following a historic and infamous series of events that threatened America’s economy. From media pundits to organized efforts such as the “Occupy: Wall Street” movement, there...
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...Running head: EMPRESS LUXURY LINENS Empress Luxury Linens Kendra Pitts Strayer University BUS 500/ Dr. Jason Cash July 24, 2011 Empress Luxury Linens The problem started when the company incurred damages from a very bad thunder storm. The system was hit and damaged however the damages were repairable at a reasonable cost. Once the damages were assessed the plot was devised to damage the remaining underground wires in order to raise the amount that the insurance company would pay out for the repairs. Antonio Melendez was faced with a very serious ethical dilemma. Before Antonio joined Empress, there were rumors that company successfully defrauded insurance companies and the upper level-management has condoned such practice. No whistle-blowers came out because there were no confidential mechanisms to protect them. Although Antonio knew that Empress has in the past defrauded the insurance company, it was before his arrival and was not sure what he should do. Although there are several different approaches and strategies that can be used to deal with this dilemma there are a few that would be ethically appropriate for the situation. One strategy that would be useful would be using the Individualism approach. By using this approach he will be able to look at and have to decide how to report the situation without incriminating himself. Antonio wants to keep his job however he knows what is going on is ethically wrong and wants no parts of it. ...
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...Case Study: Coping with Financial and Ethical Risks at AIG Cesare Lucritzia Capella University In 2008-2009, AIG became one of the most controversial financial bailouts in U.S. history. AIG underwrites insurance risk coverage to insurance companies. If an insurance company acquires too much risk, they then go to AIG who is a reinsurance company. Reinsurance companies enable insurance companies the ability to sell more insurance policies and enable growth. Within AIG there was a division that was selling insurance on mortgage-backed securities that are known as credit default swaps. As the value of homes continued to rise in 2008, the contracts that AIG made with these credit default swaps expired and AIG pocketed the premiums. People were buying homes with zero money down. When the housing bubble burst and people started defaulting on their loans, AIG then had to buy a ton of bad mortgage backed securities that nobody else could afford to take on. Since AIG was the largest insurance company in the United States at that time, they simply could not afford to fail because this would create a domino effect on the entire U.S. financial system, so the United States government was forced to bail them out to keep the U.S. and the international financial system on its rails. AIG’s corporate culture played a large role in its downfall. For 38 years, Maurice Greenberg was AIG’s Chief Executive Officer and was the face of AIG and its evolving corporate culture. He was an incredibly...
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...and fell because of it. To prevent global economic disaster, the U.S. government came to its rescue. This has resulted in the biggest taxpayer bailout of a private company in American history. American International Group, Inc. is a company whose operation began back in 1919. It was established back then by Cornelius Vander Starr as an insurance agency in Shanghai, China. AIG left china in 1949 after Starr had established himself as the westerner the sell insurance to the Chinese people. AIG headquarters then shifted from china to New York City after the communist came to power, which is still the headquarters up to date. It is from here that AIG began its expansion tapping into other markets such as the Latin America, Asia, Middle East and Europe through use of its subsidiaries.In 1962, Starr gave management of the company’s lagging U.S. holdings to Maurice R. Greenberg, who shifted its focus onto selling insurance through independent brokers rather than agents. The start of the problems faced by AIG began during the occupancy of Greenberg as AIGs' CEO. It was during tenure that the corporation expanded from its original line of insurance into other many complex lines of business and insuring risks that only a few other companies would consider handling. This led to the involvement of the company in businesses that it did not fully comprehend. AIG started investing in many diverse types of securities which included mortgage backed securities and also credit derivatives trading...
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...Financial and Ethical Risks at American International Group (AIG) I. Introduction American International Group (AIG) a leading American insurance organization operating in 130 countries. Established in Shanghai, China by Cornelius Starr; Starr was the first to sell insurance to the Chinese. In the 1960s Starr handed control of AIG to Maurice Greenberg who remained the company's chief executive officer until 2005. II. Response to Question #1 If the corporate culture of AIG was a contributing factor in the downfall of the company, Maurice R. "Hank" Greenberg would have to be placed under the microscope and thoroughly examined as he would be held liable for creating such a culture. Maurice R. Greenberg was the chairman of the American International Group from 1968 to 2005, during which time he built the small insurance company into what became the world's largest insurance and financial services corporation (Times, 2010). From its beginning, AIG was at the front of the line in regards to the Global Market. Global business practices were embedded into the framework of the corporation and allowed AIG to conduct business successfully overseas. The company found its new home in New York in the 1940s and continued to operate fairly in the insurance market. When Greenberg took over as CEO, the company was not performing well. This forced Greenberg to adapt a win at all cost approach to business. Although his concepts are driven by innovation, they do not account for ethical practices...
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