Citizens of Character by Arthur James;

Author:Arthur, James;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Character, education, reason, emotion, morality, moral virtues, citizenship, trust, utilitrianism, schools, family, life values, inspiration, aspiration, culture
ISBN: 1507788
Publisher: Andrews UK Ltd.
Published: 2013-10-02T00:00:00+00:00

‘We’re All Utilitarians Now’

Some Observations on the Views of Students and Those in the Early Years of Employment Concerning Character

I Introduction

I use ‘utilitarian’ with the ordinary sense of a person concerned only with usefulness or what pertains to material benefit and who believes that the rightness of actions must be judged by their consequences. In fact utilitarianism as an ethical theory has a lively and complex history (Mill, 1962; Sen & Williams, 1982). However, at the risk of being simplistic I shall assume for the sake of the argument in this chapter that utilitarianism involves three matters crucial to moral enquiry. First, moral enquiry is concerned with maximizing happiness, both personal and societal. This is often put in the form that moral acts, intentions, influences etc., are focused upon what is conducive to the greatest happiness of the greatest number. Secondly, that while there is great debate about who constitute the community in question and the qualities which should be taken into account when discussing ‘happiness’, evidence for moral behaviour is learned from experience, not through the exact discernment of a moral sense, the ‘natural law’, or the application of principles. Thirdly, that good behaviour, good acts, good policies are recognized, discovered, determined by the exercise of reason. This amounts to the assertion that utilitarianism is concerned with ‘what works’. The present historical context is sympathetic to this approach. There are many reasons for this.

First, the political timescale is limited, there are five years at the most between elections; the party in power has therefore a very short time in which to make an impact whereas real change in social practice must be approached with a long-term perspective in mind. Moreover, whereas the Civil Service used to be largely apolitical striving to maintain a consistent approach to policy development and its practical implementation where it was obvious that change could not be effected quickly, this is so no longer. The shift in the relationship between ministers and civil servants combined with the appointment of more party political advisers in Government Departments has tended to politicize the civil service - certainly as the public views it.

Secondly, the success of the economy and most particularly the success of a company’s management is frequently judged by the daily performance of the share-price in the market. A company needs capital and must therefore attract investors who will have to be paid good dividends in a competitive market. Since a growing proportion of society depends on the performance of the market for its income especially in retirement, it pays companies to concentrate on short term rather than long term goals. Moreover, the global nature of the contemporary socio-economic system puts additional pressures on companies as they seek for competitive advantage. The tendency is therefore to invest in projects which promise immediate profit with serious consequences for the poor. For example, the vast cost of the development of a new drug is so great that the treatment of widespread disease in poor countries may be sacrificed to the more profitable treatment of the lifestyle conditions of wealthy societies.

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