Moral and Ethical Obligations of Corporations

Paper Summary:

The paper consists of two parts. Part I of the paper shows how corporations make decisions on the assumption that injury and death to innocent people is an acceptable cost for profits. The paper looks at the Ford Motor Company that did not reveal that their Pinto model had a gas tank that could explode and burn. The paper argues that the rise in white-collar crime is linked to the materialist, consumerist nature of our society, which is reflected in our legal systems. Part II of the paper analyzes these kinds of behaviors by applying normative theories to them. The paper shows how neither utilitarian, deontological nor virtue ethics theories can give a clear and definitive answer to the question of whether Ford made a correct choice.

From the Paper:

"An example of corporations putting profit before any other consideration may be found in the case of the Ford Motor Company. This company decided at one time to keep quiet about the fact that their Pinto model had a gas tank that tended to explode and burn in the event of a rear end collision. This of course resulted in injury to people inside the vehicles, and sometimes even death. Ford's reasoning was that it would be more profitable to settle resultant law suits than to recall the faulty vehicles. (Samuelson) It is important to note that this decision was not classified as a crime, even though one might expect it to be. It is argued in this essay that the reasons for this kind of thinking (both the decision Ford made, and the fact that it was not classified as a crime) go right to the root of the nature and values of our society, which in turn are reflected in our legal systems."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Achbar, Mark and Jennifer Abbott. (Directors). The Corporation. Big Picture Media Corporation, 2003.
• De Wijze, Stephen. "Defining Evil: Insights from the Problem of Dirty Hands." The Monist, 85.2 (2002): 210+.
• Fonda, Darren. "After Bernie, Who's Next?" Time Magazine, 165.13 (March 28, 2005): 44-46.
• Garnett, A. Campbell. Ethics: A Critical Introduction. New York: Ronald Press, 1960.
• Samuelson, Les and Wayne Antony. (Eds.) Power and Resistance: Critical Thinking about Canadian Social Issues. Halifax: Fernwood Publishing, 2003.

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