...There is no set definition of reality and because of its flexibility, reality can be warped. Reality itself is defined by O’Brien in the book as something that “exists within the human mind, and nowhere else” and “is not external” (Orwell 205). O'Brien believes that reality does not exist until the mind perceives it, and the mind should not perceive it without the Party’s permission. O'Brien attempts to convince Winston that he sees five fingers, when his senses, aware of a reality independent of Big Brother, actually sees four. Seeing five fingers instead of four is only possible if the person's reality allows for the possibility and existence of such things. Winston is able to see the five fingers instead of four after going through immense pain and as a result his outside reality is warped by the pain and drugs. Briefly, he shares the reality of the Party and felt a “luminous certainty” before “everything was normal again” (Orwell 213). After these disciplining sessions, Winston stops believing in an independent, external reality and willingly believes the structured reality made possible by the Party's simulacra. The Party uses many examples of simulacrum to control its citizens. Big Brother himself is a simulacrum, the idea and image of a leader instead of a living person, given to the people as a symbol of the Party. Winston asks if Big Brother truly exists and O'Brien answers “of course he exists” (Orwell 214). He exists “within the human mind” of the Party's reality...
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...Ethics Kellie Jackson Arthur Murphy Ethics Utilitarianism - Utilitarianism is the ethical doctrine that the moral worth of an action is solely determined by its contribution to overall utility. It is thus a form of consequentialism, meaning that the moral worth of an action is determined by its outcome—the ends justify the means. Utility — the good to be maximized — has been defined by various thinkers as happiness or pleasure (versus suffering or pain), though preference utilitarian’s like Peter Singer define it as the satisfaction of preferences. (David 2008) Deontology - Deontological ethics or deontology meaning 'obligation' or 'duty') is an approach to ethics that focuses on the rightness or wrongness of actions themselves, as opposed to the rightness or wrongness of the consequences of those actions. It is sometimes described as "duty" or "obligation" based ethics, because deontologists believe that ethical rules "bind you to your duty". (Kant 1785) Deontological ethics is commonly contrasted with consequentialist or teleological ethical theories, according to which the rightness of an action is determined by its consequences. Virtue Ethics - Virtue ethics is a branch of moral philosophy that emphasizes character, rather than rules or consequences, as the key element of ethical thinking. In the West virtue ethics was the prevailing approach to ethical thinking in the ancient and medieval periods. The tradition suffered an eclipse during the early modern period...
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...Utilitarianism and the Theory of Justice* by Charles Blackorby, Walter Bossert and David Donaldson August 1999 revised August 2001 Prepared as Chapter 11 of the Handbook of Social Choice and Welfare K. Arrow, A. Sen and K. Suzumura, eds., Elsevier, Amsterdam Charles Blackorby: University of British Columbia and GREQAM Walter Bossert: Universit´ de Montr´al and C.R.D.E. e e David Donaldson: University of British Columbia * We thank Don Brown, Marc Fleurbaey, Philippe Mongin, John Weymark and a referee for comments and suggestions. Financial support through a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada is gratefully acknowledged. August 20, 2001 Abstract This chapter provides a survey of utilitarian theories of justice. We review and discuss axiomatizations of utilitarian and generalized-utilitarian social-evaluation functionals in a welfarist framework. Section 2 introduces, along with some basic definitions, socialevaluation functionals. Furthermore, we discuss several information-invariance assumptions. In Section 3, the welfarism axioms unrestricted domain, binary independence of irrelevant alternatives and Pareto indifference are introduced and used characterize welfarist social evaluation. These axioms imply that there exists a single ordering of utility vectors that can be used to rank all alternatives for any profile of individual utility functions. We call such an ordering a social-evaluation ordering, and we introduce several...
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...Intro According to The Vegetarian Resource Group’s 2008 telephone survey, approximately 5% of U.S citizens say that they never eat meat, fish, seafood, or poultry. [1] Also, Huffington Post has announced that Americans consumed 12.2 percent less meat in 2012 than in 2007. [2] These facts tell us that the number of people who do not eat meat increases and we can connect this to an animal rights issue. Back in 1984, Tom Regan, a philosophy professor at North Carolina State University, already published his writing “The Case for Animal Rights” to defend animal rights. However, I do not agree with his argument that we should completely stop using animals as resources. Tom Regan’s view Regan has three big goals: 1. The total abolition of the...
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...MGX5020 Ethics and Business Corruption Tutor: Jeremy St. John Ash Khan (23757175) Yan Che (24584193) Li Junyi (21771138) 9/21/2012 Introduction: Corruption is defined as wrongdoing on the part of an authority or powerful party through means that are illegitimate, immoral or incompatible with ethical standards. Business corruption has been one of the major ethical issues facing the world in modern times and there has been a lot of debate in regards to the motives of the companies that participate in it. Some even argue that corruption is not solely down to lack of honesty but more as a tool that is required to survive in the current market due to increased competition, market conditions etc. In this paper, we would try to develop a knowledge based framework to understand the motives and consequences of business corruption through an ethical perspective. In analysing the ethics of business corruption, this paper will focus on 3 different ethical theories; Kohlberg’s theory of cognitive moral development, Consequentialism and Deontological ethical theories. Each theory represents different standpoints and arguments in as to the motives behind business corruption. Literature Review: Transparency International, the leading anti-corruption nongovernmental organization, “has chosen a clear and focused definition” of corruption as “the misuse of entrusted power for private gain” (Transparency International, 2008a). According to Professors Dunfee and Hess...
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...Assignment: Assignment 1 Title: Employment At-Will Doctrine Student: David Nti-Berko Professor: Anne E. Dewey-Balzhiser Course: LEG 500 – Law, Ethics, and Corporate Governance Submission Date: 07/28/2013 Introduction Since the latter part of the nineteenth century, employment at-will has been the starting point in America employer-employee relationships (D. Mathews, 1975). Under the doctrine of employment at-will, an employer may terminate employees for good cause, bad cause, or no cause at all. Most western industrialized countries do not observe employment at-will doctrine. According to the legal history, employment at-will doctrine is a legal fiction unintentionally invented by Horace C. Wood in his legal thesis in 1877 on employment law entitled “Master and Servant” (Toussaint v. Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Michigan, Mich. 1980). At-will employees can be terminated for any reason or no reason at all. This means that in an at-will workplace there is no esoteric form of fairness or justice that can be protected or enforced by the courts. In the states whereby employment at-will doctrine is observed, an employer or supervisor can terminate an employee because they do not like their style of dress, choice of music or maybe even the color of their shirt, and the employee would have no real legal recourse in most instances. Because employees can be terminated for no reason, it does create a dilemma for...
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...Human Assets versus Other Organizational Assets September 18, 2014 Schuler and MacMillan (1984) stated that gaining and maintaining a competitive advantage is critical to any organization’s growth and prosperity, this involves recognizing and capitalizing on their human assets (p.1). Human assets are one of the most critical parts of a business that helps the company to maintain a competitive advantage in the market (Mello, 2015). Unfortunately, some organizations do not recognize and capitalize on their human assets. So why does senior management fail to realize the value of human assets versus other organizational assets. Human assets are often ignored compared to other assets because of five factors: management values, attitude toward risk, nature of employee skills, availability of outsourcing and utilitarianism. Each of these major factors affects how “investment oriented” a company is compared to other organizational assets (Mello, 2015, p. 12). The first factor, management values and their actions involve the readiness of the company to integrate successful plans to invest in human assets; and the second factor, attitude toward risk involves the risks the company is willing to take to invest in their human assets (Mello, 2015). In order to lessen the risk associated with human asset investments, organizations need to develop successful strategies that appeal to their employees or risk losing their investments. Employees today, seek more of a challenging or non-traditional...
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...Ethics In Human Resource Management Alisha Wood Saint Augustine’s University Ethics and Human Resource Management Wikipedia, defines ethics as: "…a study of values and customs of a person or a group. It covers the analysis and employment ofconcepts such as right and wrong, good and evil, and responsibility." Wikipedia, defines utilitarianism as: “…ethical doctrine of greatest good. The ethical doctrine that the greatest happiness of the greatest number should be the criterion of the virtue of action The complexities of business and our human/social society makes corporate ethics a very interesting study. To a practicing manager in the working world today, this becomes critically important, especially if they don’t get it! And many obviously have not and still do not. The questions are really simple to ask - yet hard to answer: What does good business today really mean? What does ethics have to do, if anything, with good business? What impact can the human resource function have on either? Within business, what is my responsibility as a human resource professional? Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is known as one of the areas that has drawn many attentions in the business environment over the last twenty years. Carroll (1991) argued that corporation should be addressed not only from economic and legal perspectives but also from ethical and philanthropic perspectives; the idea of CSR’s pyramid is then derived. Furthermore, the efficiency theory...
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...JIMMY KAYODE WRITTEN BY AKIYODE ESTHER OLADUNNI MATRIC NO 01/09/AV/4018 TABLE OF CONTENT INTRODUCTION DEFINITION ETHICAL PRINCIPLES • BENEFICENCE • LEAST HARM • RESPECT FOR AUTONOMY • JUSTICE ETHICAL THEORIES • DEONTOLOGY • UTILITARIASM • RIGHTS • CASUIST • VIRTUE VIEW OR NOTABLE SCHOLARS • PLATO ABSOLUTION • ARISOTLE: EUDEMONISM • ST. THOMAS AQUINESS – NATURAL LAW • IMMANUEL KANT: DEONTOLOGY • JOHN STUART MILL – UTILITARISM • JOHN RAWLS – CONGRATURIANISM • TOM REGAN: RIGHTS THEORY (BONUS THEORY ) • TENTATIVE COMPARISON (TABLE & GRAPH) • CRITICISM AGAINST DEONTOLOGY: “ “ UTILITARIANISM “ “ RIGHTS “ “ CASUIST “ “ VIRTUE • CONCLUSION • REFERENCES CRITICISMS OF ETHICAL THEORIES INTRODUCTION The art of critiquing is basically to appraise a work i.e articles, write-ups, novels etc. Critiquing does not aim to condemn or castigate a paper but to seek the flaws, identify the various meanings, put up better explanations on the subject, seek the weaknesses and strengths and give opinions to enhance the quality of the discourse. The topic of this discourse is ETHICAL THEORIES CRITICISM. We shall examine the definition of ethics, the meaning of ethical theories, types of ethnical theories and the various submissions of famous scholars, its relevance to the society...
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...eighteen years old without parental consent. If we consider this in greater detail we can surmise that at age eighteen you are old enough to make the choice to join the military and put your life at risk. You are also given a great responsibility of protecting our country. For those that do not enlist in the military their responsibilities are typically much less. While there are certain to be exceptions, most young adults between the age of eighteen and twenty-one are concerned with school, work, friends and dating. Their level of maturity and understanding on life is not fully developed and they are just starting to explore the world on their own. Prior to 1984 some states did allow people to buy and consume alcohol at the age of eighteen. However the federal government has passed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984. This act withholds revenue from states that allow the purchase of alcohol by anyone under the age of 21. However you may be surprised that some states do allow consumption of alcohol by young adults in a private setting. Some states also allow consumption of alcohol for young adults when in the company of...
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...Assignment 3 Ethics and Corporate Responsibility in the Workplace and the World By Grace Robinson Legal 500 Law Ethics & Corporate Governance Professor Dr. Michael T. Hanners 2/22/15 Introduction PharmaCARE is a very successful pharmaceutical company; based in New Jersey. It is known for having a caring reputation, and being an ethical and well-run company that produces life-saving; high-quality products. The company is known for caring because the business offers free and discounted drugs to low-income consumers, has a foundation that sponsors healthcare educational programs and scholarships, and its CEO serves on the PhRMA board. Recently, PharmaCARE launched a new initiative; We CARE about YOUR world®. This action pledged its commitment to the environment through recycling, packaging changes, and other green initiatives. However, the company’s lobbying efforts and Political Action Committee (PAC) have successfully defeated environmental laws and regulations. They now maintain a large manufacturing facility in the African nation of Colberia. In Colberia, the company benefits from the free information on alternative methods of healing. PharmaCare repays the natives by offering the Colberians jobs that pay $1 a day. The duties consist of harvesting plants by walking five miles into and out of the jungle carrying baskets that can weigh up to fifty pounds. After working a long hard day for $1, these same workers return to their primitive huts with no electricity or...
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...Instructor: Student: Anonymous Class: LEGAL 500 - LAW ETHICS AND COROPATE GOVERNMENT Date Due: November 2, 2013 EMPLOYMENT -AT- WILL DOCTRINE TABLE OF CONTENTS Employment -At-Will Doctrine……..............................................................................p1 Exceptions to Employment-At-Will………..…………………………………….……p2 Case Scenario Evaluations…………………………………………………….……....p3 Recommendations CEO……………………………………………………………….p5 References /Academic Resources……………………………..………………………p7 EMPLOYMENT -AT-WILL DOCTRINE In this paper, I will summarize the employment-at-will doctrine in the United States. I will evaluate the following situations: • Summarize the employment-at-will doctrine and evaluate each of the eight (8) scenarios described by determining: • Whether you can legally fire the employee; include an assessment of any pertinent exceptions to the employment-at-will doctrine. • What action you should take to limit liability and impact on operations; specify which ethical theory best supports your decision. • Take a position on whether or not you would recommend to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) that the company adopt a whistleblower policy. Support the position. • Justify at least three (3) fundamental items that should be included in a whistleblower policy. Provide a rationale for your selection of each of the three (3) recommended items. THE AT-WILL PRESUMPTION Employment relationships are presumed...
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...Human resource management Business ethics Classification Codes: 9175: Western Europe 9140: Statistical data 6100: Human resource planning 2400: Public relations Geographic Names: United Kingdom UK Abstract: The relative absence of debate about ethical issues within the area of human resource management is addressed. IT is argued that ethics is not about taking statements of morality at face value; it is a critical and challenging tool. The discussion starts with what should be familiar terrain: ethical arguments that uphold a managerialist position, such as ethical individualism, utilitarianism, and "Rawlsian" justice. Other theories are then introduced that broaden the field of ethical concern in an endeavor to be more socially inclusive: stakeholding and discourse theory. Copyright Eclipse Group Ltd. 2000 Full Text: Until very recently the field of business ethics was not preoccupied with issues relating to the ethical management of employees. Apart from the development of ethical awareness among managers (Snell, 1993; Maclagan, 1998) and the ethical dimension of change management processes (Mayon White, 1994; McKendall, 1993), there has been little debate around the ethical basis of much HR policy and practice. The main debates in business...
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...Deontology and Utilitarianism of Marijuana Brandon What do you think of when you hear the term Weed or Marijuana? Most people probably think illegal drugs, drug dealers, and crime. But what most people don’t realize is that Marijuana might be able help with some of today’s most common problems. For an Aids patient Marijuana helps fight appetite loss and headaches. The Marijuana seed is a source of nutritional value, and is a great source for cooking oils and vitamins. Before it was illegalized Marijuana was one of the main sources of paper and clothing. Marijuana can produce four times more fiber per acre than most trees used today. If you do the math on that anyone can see that Marijuana has a great chance of reducing deforestation. The war on drugs has cost our country millions of dollars over the past decades. But not only does the drug problem still exist it has actually grown over the decades. Alcohol causes more accidents and deaths than Marijuana ever has but it is not illegal. Alcohol will never be illegalized because it has always been so relative to most of the world’s cultures, but that doesn’t make it right. Do you still think so negatively of the term Marijuana? This paper will look at the Deontology and Utilitarian views of Marijuana. The purpose of this paper is to examine the rights and wrongs of Marijuana, and whether or not it should be illegalized. Is marijuana really an introductory drug? Many people believe so. In fact I believe...
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...The Social Responsibility of Business: A Review. Maz Demosthenous School of Commerce The Flinders University of South Australia GPO Box 2100 Adelaide South Australia 5001 Telephone: +61 8 82013896 Facsimile: +61 8 82012644 Email: Maz.Demosthenous@flinders.edu.au SCHOOL OF COMMERCE RESEARCH PAPER SERIES: 00-8 ISSN: 1441-3906 For many, the view that the main goal or purpose of business is to make as much money as possible is accepted as a matter of fact and is beyond debate. To go further and say that the social responsibility of a business is also just to make a profit is open to debate. The aim of this paper is to discuss the various views of the responsibility of business, and to consider where accounting fits in. In addition, to explore the ethical responsibilities that a corporation may have beyond making profits for its stockholders. The Friedman view Milton Friedman’s view is that in a capitalist economy, there is one and only one responsibility of business- to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is to say, engages in open and free competition without deception or fraud (Friedman, 1983). When one is looking at the responsibilities of an individual or an organisation they must first examine their roles. The directors of companies have a fiduciary responsibility to act in the best interest of the shareholders. The managers are agents of the shareholders...
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