Just answer an essay question Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Just answer an question - Essay Example Value hedonism is a basic principle of Utilitarianism, which provides that the rightness or wrongness of an action is determined by the intrinsic value that would be obtained from such an action, where the intrinsic value is measurable based on the happiness index. Thus, based on this principle, the Ford Motor Company’s decision not to make an improvement on its defective gas tank design because the costs of improving the design outweighed its benefits is right and moral, since it gave happiness to the company. On the other hand consequentialism is an important aspect of the Utilitarianism, where the rightness or wrongness of an act is also judged, based on how good or bad the consequences it produces are. The fundamental aspect of Utilitarianism regarding consequentialism is the fact that; good intentions do not matter in determining the rightness of an action, as long as good consequences are obtainable. Therefore, based on this principle, the Ford Motor Company’s decision is good, since despite the intention of the action, the consequences were good, since the company did not incur the extra costs. However, through applying the Utilitarianism concept of universality, all individuals to be affected by the consequences of an action are deemed morally relevant. Thus, considering the Ford Motor Company’s decision would impact negatively on the customers of the company, then it is morally wrong. This view point is emphasized by the impartialism principle of Utilitarianism, which requires that all individual affected by the action should count equally, as regards the consequences of an action. This being the case, the Ford Motor Company’s decision is immoral, since its consequences do not grant the customers of the company equal happiness, as it does to the

THE CASE OF THE BRITISH PRESS ON MALE YOUTH SUICIDE Term Paper

THE CASE OF THE BRITISH PRESS ON MALE YOUTH SUICIDE - Term Paper Example This memoire describes how the issue of male youth suicide can be studied using Beeghley’s (1999) methodology. A large part of the memoire has gone into introducing the concept of suicide and the varying definitions of suicide, followed by setting the context for further discussion of the subject. An analysis of press articles is done to study how the press problematised the issue. Male youth suicide rates more than doubled between 1970-1998, and became a major concern for the society. In such a situation, the media’s role in acting as the moral entrepreneur, as per Cohen’s theory of moral panic, is worth noting. The main aim of the memoire is to investigate how the private issue of suicide was made a social problem by the press. Beeghley’s methodology was used for this purpose because unlike the methodologies by Rubington and Weinberg (2002), Best (2007) and Mooney (2011), his methodology assumes a more empirical approach through hypothesis testing. The memoire begins with the varying definitions of a social problem and the methodologies that are used to studying social problems. It goes on to state the justification for using Beeghley’s methodology in detail. This section is followed by a detailed description of Beeghley’s methodology and how it can be applied to studying social problems. The three aspects of the methodology include studying the â€Å"extent of harm† of a social problem, â€Å"identification and political recognition† of a social problem, and â€Å"need for improvement† of a social condition. These three components correspond to the correspond to the objective, subjective and optimistic components of social problems.