Comm 101

No. Kant’s 2nd categorical imperatives stated that we need to treat humanity always an end and never as a means. (Shaw, Barry & Sansbury, 2009, pg77) According to the case, Ford did not put a human’s life as the first priority; in fact, they placed a monetary value on a human’s life. They are using the human life to determine whether their decision is profitable in the cost-benefit analysis which is against Kantianism.

Therefore, by incorporating activities that promote class discussion, my students can potentially advance to higher levels of moral reasoning. When I first meet my students, I will introduce them to the Heinz Dilemma. Additionally, I will give them specific instructions stating that they are not to discuss the dilemma with anyone. Next, I will provide them with a survey of multiple choice and open-ended questions based on the Heinz Dilemma. Once again, the students will not be allowed to discuss their answers to the survey with their classmates. The results from this survey will provide me with my students’ initial level of moral reasoning. I will keep these initial surveys to reflect back on at the end of the

There are a few concerns about harmful behavior of the FMC that should be discussed. A behavior is harmful when it wrongfully sets back the interest of others and has a high risk of harm. Obviously, the gravity of harm in this case is very high being that it is life threatening. Once a consumer has purchased the Pinto and drives it off the lot he is at risk to getting rear ended, and burned to death by a car fire or explosion. Since the weight of this harm is very severe, the low probability of the consumer having an accident doesn’t discount Ford’s unethical behavior. Indeed, driving a Ford Pinto would place a consumer’s life at risk. Also at stake are the interests of Pinto passengers and drivers of other vehicles who certainly are not willing to risk their lives so Ford can make an extra buck. Everyone has an interest in not getting injured or killed. Setting back the interest of consumers isn’t the only thing Ford Motor Company was responsible for.

Friedman’s free-market approach to business ethics and how it relates to the Ford Pinto case.

Hypothesis and overview of the essay (approximately 1 to 2 pages) This section should focus on using clear, concise writing to introduce your argumentative position based on the "Moral Instinct" editorial.

3. Utilitarians would say that jeopardizing motorists does not by itself make Ford’s action morally objectionable. The only morally relevant matter is whether Ford gave equal consideration to the interests of each affected party. Do you think Ford did this?

In Pinto Fires and Personal Ethics: A Script Analysis of Missed Opportunities, Dennis Gioia relives the case of the Ford Pinto. Throughout the article Gioia questions his involvement in this highly debated issue, consequently wondering where he fit in ethically. This piece brings together the ideas of technical, social, and political ethics, ultimately showing the importance of an engineer’s decision. Overall, I realize that the remorse or consequence of an ethical decision drives the examination of what is moral.

Choose only one of the ethical dilemmas below to address in your essay. The questions at the end of each dilemma are intended for you to reflect on. For your paper you must organize your writing using the sections and underlined titles listed on the assignment page. Do not copy the case study into your essay.

1) In your judgment did PepsiCo have a moral obligation to divest itself of all its Burmese assets? Explain your answer. Which approach to ethics – utilitarian, rights, justice, caring or virtue- is more appropriate for analyzing the case events in this case?

This makes it murder instead of manslaughter and that is a much more serious offense. But like I said previously on whether or not the people had the proper education to make their decision on such an ethic setting, it mentions this in this paragraph. Says the customer would have to undergo some soul-searching and would have to brush up on his philosophical studies in order to make a decision. Another thing we have to keep in mind is the fact that once you make a decision on the ethical setting of your car, you have to understand all that it implies and under which circumstances because you have to make sure you will be able to live with those

A similar ethical concept to Utilitarianism is that of Rawl’s Theory of Justice. Within his theories he states that for something to be both ethical and just it must not infringe on the basic rights and liberties of a person, nor give advantage to any one group but to all with positions and offers available to all equally. In reference to the Ford Pinto, the second statement is upheld. The Pinto being a relatively cheap car which was often a starter vehicle, and as long as a person had the funds and a driver’s license, they could own the vehicle. So the design process general design itself was both fair and ethical to Rawls when regarding the second of his two theories of justice. The first theory can be up to interpretation. The only rights or liberties that might have been infringed upon are those of safety

The CBA itself did not force Ford to act unethically, their greed and their sole priority to avoid extra cost even if it meant the loss of a human life drove them to an unethical decision. Ford faced a simple problem, do they fix the Pinto or do they kill innocent people. Sadly, they preferred the money saving option, which was to ignore the defect and to pay compensates to effected families and loved ones. The company defended their decision using the CBA model as if they were legally exonerated from any penalties due to their actions. Fortunately, the jury did not see it as if their decision was justifiable even if the method to evaluate the decision

Everyone except Ford’s top executives, who in an internal document cited the potential danger. So not only did they know about it, but they calculated that it would be cheaper to pay out possible injury claims then it would be to recall all the vehicles. This ethical dilemma came to a head when three teenage girls were killed in Indiana while in a Ford Pinto. With the bad press and with company officials being indicted with negligence and homicide, Ford was forced to recall all their Pinto vehicles. Ethical issues in the auto industry regarding product safety are dangerous and are linked to human lives. The decisions that Ford executives made had a direct impact on those three teenage girls and the blood was left in their hands. This is just one of many faulty decisions made in automakers history that helped mold the unethical decisions made by Volkswagen in the most recent ethical issue facing the auto industry.

Ethical theories in philosophy are used as decision making tools (Trevino p38), many theories with different frameworks with argument with and against.

Ford and Richardson (1994) the model of ethical decision-making is generally detached by individual factors and situational factors, which in situational factors is the most important.