Essay Sample for Students: Utilitarianism as Portrayed by Capitalism

There is no doubt that various moral issues are bound to arise in different instances particularly in business settings. It is, therefore, important to study these moral issues to help in developing analytic skills as well as sound reasoning in settling emerging issues. William Shaw offers a guide to the contemporary issues in the business including, economic justice, nature of morality, capitalism concepts, the role of societal cooperation, individual responsibility and integrity as well as real-life moral issues arising in workplaces. In essence, utilitarianism is an ethical theory which states that the best action maximizes utility- total pleasure resulting from an action excluding the suffering involved in that particular act. some of the critical points that are aligned with utilitarianism theory include whether actions ought to be selected centered on likely results (act utilitarianism) or whether rules ought to conform maximizing utility (Shaw & Barry, 2016). It is therefore important to note that utilitarianism theory strongly correlates with capitalism in the field of business. Notably, this is depicted in an act of capitalism despite being ethically wrong, have very important consequences. This paper focuses on the importance of capitalism as a demonstration of the essence of utilitarianism theory.

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Primarily, in an economic system, the capitalism entails ownership of production of goods and factors such as labor, capital goods, entrepreneurship as well as natural resources while still deriving their income from the ownership (Shaw & Barry, 2016). The owners of the above four mentioned exercises their control through companies enabling them to operate a particular company efficiently as well as maximizing profits. For capitalism to succeed, a free market economy is required whereby goods and services are distributed by supply laws and demands. Laws of demand states that in the event of an increase in demand for a given product, the prices tend to rise, in turn, maximize the profit in the long run. Additionally, upon the realization of the possibility of higher profit making, it is important to consider increasing the rate of production. Additionally, an increase in supply will, therefore, mean that there would be a need to add more labor force (Shaw & Barry, 2016). In light of the above-mentioned facts, capitalism is a vital component of business and is regarded morally right in the entrepreneurial industry especially in the contemporary society.

In essence, capitalism results in the production of the best products for best prices thereby consumers are expected to pay more for their needs. Moreover, competition in the production of goods leads to different companies producing efficient products, therefore, enabling them to maximize profits. Essentially, innovation is a reward coming as a consequence of capitalism. In this scenario, efficient production methods come into play to ensure the demand for products is met through production of quality goods. Noteworthy, dynamism is also promoted to meet the changing needs of consumers. Due to the above-alluded points, it is important to consider capitalism as being beneficial to both human populations as well as society bringing significant positive changes.

In the contemporary society, capitalism is often tipped to boosts the economy of a nation. Most capitalist organizations are privately owned therefore paying the substantive amount of tax to a particular government. This is the main reason why many states tend to protect such firms. As a result, unity is developed through capitalism since the production of goods encourages trade across borders consisting of different people (Elfstrom, 2018). Moreover, the health of individuals improves thanks to the existence of a wide variety of quality of food choices ranging from free-range foods, low-fat foods, or organic foods. The plentiful diets, as well as wide range of equipment in gyms, helps improves health and quality of life wherein the absence of the variety of healthy foods and services one probably could opt for liposuction or surgery. The above-stated issues illustrate the importance of capitalism on lives of individuals thereby it should be practiced worldwide for the positive gains which tend to outweigh the negatives effect, thus making capitalism critical aspect in the business industry.

Wellness of social life of individuals is often enhanced through capitalism. At a glance, it may seem that everyone works selfishly for their own money, however; their job benefits someone else either directly or indirectly. For instance, factory workers engaged in the production of goods and services that we cannot live without whereas security personnel protect people and ensures the law is achieved in the societies. it is important to note that no matter the type of job whether poorly or highly paid, easy or competitive, dirty or glamorous, all lead to societal satisfaction (Shaw & Barry, 2016). The practice of capitalism illustrates how utilitarianism theory is closely linked to the theory that foster the practice of capitalism.

Capitalists argue that capitalism works perfectly with nature of humans specifically greed. Apparently, greed consequently rewards individuals with financial might, therefore, explaining the situation of a particular nation where its economy is fuelled by individuals working hard to furnish their lives and needs. Greed ignites competition, thus forming a vital part of the human race where mankind progresses (Shaw & Barry, 2016).The system of capitalism is used to emphasize freedom that can be applied to pursue any occupation which is suitable for a particular individual. The choice lies with an individual despite the kind of profession one wants to achieve and capitalism provides a perfect environment for such situations (Shaw & Barry, 2016). The hard work of an individual in this system not only benefits the society with the end product but also foster personal gains, a situation famously known as the invisible hand. Through hard work and taking full advantage of the freedoms, capitalism offers, the cyclical nature of benefits to the community developed in an individual remains unbroken (Shaw & Barry, 2016).

Equity remains a major component of the capitalist system. The current system of capitalism in America is rife with sexism, discrimination, and unwillingness to reward individuals for their hard work. However, true capitalism gives no room for discrimination in that in the event two people do the same piece of work; they ought to get an equal amount of pay regardless of race, gender or anything else. In true capitalism, the only acceptable reason for a person to get more pay and entitlement to more benefits than the other should be when they put a more noticeable work compared to others (Shaw & Barry, 2016).

Conversely, while capitalism has been tipped to support economic growth by many nations across the globe, the concept is a completely misplaced particularly considering the fact that it is exploitative. Apparently, the aspect of utilitarianism theory is clearly portrayed by capitalism yet equally unfair to people's rights. In essence, this aspect can lead to various widely acknowledged markets failure in the contemporary world. Notably, this is because this virtue often relies on a primitive accumulation of reasoning.

Capitalism shapes and equips human to be consistent with the effort they put in their deeds and often build on notions of incentives. For instance, when a full commission salesperson is put on a salary scale, his or her performance tends to decline as he is assured of a given amount whether he works hard or not, a clear representation of the human nature (Elfstrom, 2018). In capitalism, everyone has an incentive to create, build and to serve others. Money is earned depending on the productivity of an individual thereby instilling the virtue of striving to improve and achieve success (Elfstrom, 2018). Conclusively, despite capitalism appearing to be immoral to the society where it is highlighted based on the negative impacts, business ethics consider utilitarianism morally right since it promotes happiness for a large number of people. This is because its benefits outweigh the negative effects it has on the society.

References

Elfstrom, Gerard. "Utilitarianism and International Ethics." Oxford Research Encyclopedia of International Studies, 18 Jan. 2018, internationalstudies.oxfordre.com/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190846626.001.0001/acrefore-9780190846626-e-358.

Quinn, D. P., & Jones, T. M. (2015). An agent morality view of business policy. Academy of Management Review, 20(1), 22-42.

Shaw, W. H., & Barry, V. E. (2016). Moral issues in business (13th ed.). Retrieved from https://ereader.chegg.com/#/books/9781305545069/cfi/4!/4/4@0.00:0.00