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Ford Pinto and Utilitarianism

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The ethical justification of a decision using utilitarian analysis allows the person making the decision a resolution to the question of what action taken is best for the most people involved in the decision. Utilitarianism holds that, in the final analysis, only one action is right and that action is such that it’s benefits outweigh all other alternatives for people affected by the action. James Rachel states “This principle requires that whenever we have a choice between alternative actions or social policies, we must choose the one that has the best overall consequences for everyone concerned.” It is easy to call an act unethical based on first sight, but utilitarianism forces a calculation to look deeper and to identify the best consequences of the act. This is uncomfortable in society due to the selfishness of the individual citizen. One may not be happy if they are of the few who are receiving the negative side of a decision which impacts everyone else for the greatest good and for the most people possible. From this philosophical standpoint, cost benefit analysis would be a natural outcome. The Ford Pinto case is based upon act utilitarianism’s approach to making a decision using a cost benefit analysis and whether that action makes the best ethical outcome for all involved. In 1968, Ford Motor Company had a decision to make as to whether it would compete in the subcompact automotive market. Ford needed to quickly introduce a small, fuel efficient, and cheap car on the market to compete with Japanese and European imports. The Pinto was to be the answer to the competition, and Lee Iacocca wanted to insure that Ford would react quickly and efficiently. According to Mark Dowie in his Mother Jones article,“ The Pinto engineers had an important goal set by Iacocca known at the ‘the limits of 2,000’. The Pinto was not to weigh an once over 2000 pounds and not

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