Faced with the prospect of needing a new roof but not being able to afford the $10,000 price tag, the already cash-strapped Golden Girls are forced to resort to desperate measures during this desperate time in The Auction episode of The Golden Girls. Initially, they take the cheap route and pay for a patch job costing a couple of hundred dollars and hope that will do the trick.

The next day, at the behest of Blanche, they attend an art show for artist, Jasper De Kimmel. His work hangs in museums all over the country and is worth thousands of dollars, assures Blanche. While at the show, the ladies have a most negative encounter with the rude, arrogant, insulting, ornery and curmudgeonly artist himself. They leave, totally offended.

Upon returning home, a second …show more content…
The actions of the ladies by definition are using De Kimmel's impending death as a mere means. While there is no manipulation or deception by the ladies of De Kimmel, they are still using him as simply as a mere means to an end.

UTILITARIANISM
Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that states actions are useful if they produce the greatest good for the greatest number of people. Under this theory, the morality of an action is based solely on the consequences it brings about and not on its intent. Good consequences means good actions with happiness being our greatest goal.

To measure actions, you must consider the amount of happiness or pleasure they produce. The best action is the one that maximizes utility. Here, "utility" is defined as pleasure and the absence of pain.

Another way to look at "utility" is the Greatest Happiness Principle. This principle asserts that actions are considered moral when they promote utility and immoral when they promote the