Can utilitarianism provide a moral justification for engineers who work for toba

Question

Can utilitarianism provide a moral justification for engineers who work for tobacco companies, for example, in designing cigarette-making machinery? In your answer take account of the following facts (and others you may be aware of) Cigarettes kill more than 400,000 Americans each year, which is more than the combined deaths caused by alcohol and drug abuse, car accidents, homicide, suicide, and AIDS. Cigarette companies do much good by providing jobs (Philip Morris employs more than 150,000 people worldwide), through taxes (over $4 billion paid by Philip Morris in a typical year), and through philanthropy. Most new users of cigarettes in the United States are teenagers (under 18). There is disagreement over just how addictive cigarettes are, but adults have some choice in deciding whether to continue using cigarettes, and they may choose to continue using for reasons beyond the addictive potential of nicotine.

Explanation / Answer

According to Utilitarianism ethics, the claim of an action to be right depends upon its consequence. If an action is right in its consequence that is provide good result it is right action. For an action, according to Utilitarianism, there is only one general moral requirement: Produce the most good for the most people, giving equal consideration to everyone affected.

If we look into the problem we will see many consequences. Lets classify these consequences into good and bad ones as follows:

Now if we compar the good consequences with the bad consequences, we will find, subjectively, that good results outweigh the bad ones.

In general it is huge employment generation industry that serves million s of families, irrespective of their consumption of ciggerettes. It also generates huge taxes to pave the way of development. Adults have choces to have ciggerette or nt. If this product would have not existed they would go for other drugs.

Hence the action :Engineers working for tobacco companies, has provided good consequences more to most. This could be justified by utilitarianism.

Good Results Bad Results Provides huge employment kill more than 400,000 Americans each year which is more than the combined deaths caused by alcohol and drug abuse, car accidents, homicide, suicide, and AIDS Generates taxes for development Most coonsumers are teenagers Development from Philanthropy Adults have choices.

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