The rights theory serves based on positions of justice and rights that consider moral leadership as that which entails just treatment and respect towards individual rights The rights theory of business ethics rests upon the notion that all individuals possess the right towards life and thus they should be treated with the highest respect and dignity required. Myanmar amber is plentiful, high quality and contains inclusions within the resin. In addition, this bias can often result in officers being less accurate in their judgment (Richardson, 2012) and therefore the argument that training and experience provides a basis for good judgment in these cases is weak. However, these two philosophies take on different standpoints on ethics. Mill defines utilitarianism as a theory based on the principle that "actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness." CNN.com. It is in the universal interest of the community to ensure that those who are eligible to vote are permitted to do so. A theory of right action is implicit in Hume’s delineation of the virtues. [70] Nicholas Dixon, Boxing, Paternalism, and Legal Moralism, Social Theory and Practice, 27(2): 323-344 (2001). [91] J.S. Utilitarianism holds that the most ethical choice is the one that will produce the greatest good for the greatest number. [58] Other people believe that media discussions have impeded needed change in minimizing sports violence. Read ahead. Ethics, Population Health Policy, and Sports-Related TBI, in Sociolcultural Examinations of Sports Concussions (Matt Ventresca & Mary McDonald eds, 2020); Alan Schwarz et al., N.F.L.’s Flawed Concussion Research and Ties to Tobacco Industry, New York Times, March 24, 2016. Explain why and how using that approach might play out. Utilitarian Theory and Human Rights Utilitarianism can be defined as a moral theory by which the public welfare of a community is dependent on the “sum welfare of individuals, which is measured in units of pleasure and/or pain”, requiring governments to make decisions based on the “largest sum of pleasure” (Postema, 2006). Daniel Goldberg observes that “there is also a crucial social and political question that is not simply a function of that empirical evidence base: to what risks is it acceptable to expose youths and adolescents?”. The utilitarian approach, also called utilitarianism, is essentially a moral principle that asserts that morally correct actions are those that provide the greatest volume of benefits over harms for the majority of people. [42] Sameer K. Deshpande et al, Association of Playing High School Football with Cognition and Mental Health Later in Life, JAMA Neurology, 74(8): 909-918 (2017). It paid more than $750 million to settle a civil lawsuit by former players. [81] Peter Benson, Big Football: Corporate Social Responsibility and the Culture and Color of Injury in America’s Most Popular Sport, Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 41(4): 307-334 (2017). Furthermore, many of the miners in the Kachin region, on both sides of the conflict, are not fully aware of the value of the amber that they are selling and are therefore being exploited by the wholesalers who purchase from them. [32] Matt Ventresca & Mary G. McDonald, Forces of Impact: Critically Examining Sport’s “Concussion Crisis,” in Sociolcultural Examinations of Sports Concussions (Ventresca & McDonald, eds., 2019). [24] Michael W. Collins et al., Adolescent Sports Concussion, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinics of North America, 19(2): 247-269 (2008); Mark R. Lovell et al., Recover from Mild Concussion in High School Athletes, Journal of Neurosurgery, 98(2): 296-301 (2003). A 2017 study found CTE in 21% of donated brains of deceased high school football players. The mining of these amber specimens in Myanmar is the center of many legitimate and blackmarket sales to university researchers and private collectors alike. [55] Julie Mack, What Parents Need to Know about Football, Concussions and Head Injuries, mlive.com, Nov. 24, 2019, at https://www.mlive.com/news/2019/11/what-parents-need-to-know-about-football-and-head-injuries.html (quoting neuroscientist Julie Stamm). [56] Professor Goldberg argues that “there is little evidence that such incremental changes [e.g., in tackling techniques] have a substantial risk-reducing effect.”[57]. [17] Kevin M. Guskiewicz et al., Association between Recurrent Concussion and Late-Life Cognitive Impairment in Retired Professional Football Players, Neurosurgery 57(4): 719-726 (2005). Utilitarianism also has trouble accounting for values such as justice and individual rights. [22] Steven Senne, Student Athletes Still Reluctant to Report Concussions, Nationwide Children’s Study Finds, Columbus Dispatch, Nov. 24, 2019, at https://www.dispatch.com/news/20191124/student-athletes-still-reluctant-to-report-concussions-nationwide-childrens-study-finds. Reducing tackling in practices has reduced overall concussion numbers among high school players, even though the number of concussions in games has risen slightly. Alan Schwarz et al., N.F.L.’s Flawed Concussion Research and Ties to Tobacco Industry, New York Times, March 24, 2016. Although different varieties of utilitarianism admit different characterizations, the basic idea behind all of them is to in some sense maximize utility, which is often defined in terms of well-being or related concepts. How might the self-serving bias impact team physicians’ and trainers’ judgments and actions? High school athletes are reluctant to report concussions. There is no official state religion but the Myanmar government favors the majority Theravada Buddhism population. Utilitarianism, in normative ethics, a tradition stemming from the late 18th- and 19th-century English philosophers and economists Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill according to which an action is right if it tends to promote happiness and wrong if it tends to produce the reverse of happiness—not just the happiness of the performer of the action but also that of everyone affected by it. In one study, use of newly-designed football helmets and safe tackling techniques eliminated concussions for 20 middle school aged players for an entire season. Frieden, T. (2012, June 12). So, we just need to kind of put it in context.”. What can scientists considering the morality of trading in Myanmar amber learn from the debate over “conflict minerals” in Africa? [69] Julie Mack, What Parents Need to Know about Football, Concusions and Head Injuries, mlive.com, Nov. 24, 2019, at https://www.mlive.com/news/2019/11/what-parents-need-to-know-about-football-and-head-injuries.html (quoting neurologist David Kaufman). And new knowledge about brain injuries have caused many people to call football immoral[2] and to advocate its abolition. What factors go into each side of the equation? This chapter provides a survey of utilitarian theories of justice. Being Your Best Self, Part 1: Moral Awareness, Being Your Best Self, Part 2: Moral Decision Making, Being Your Best Self, Part 3: Moral Intent, Being Your Best Self, Part 4: Moral Action, Ethical Leadership, Part 1: Perilous at the Top, Ethical Leadership, Part 2: Best Practices, Curbing Corruption: GlaxoSmithKline in China. [43] Zachary Y. Kerr et al., Concussion Incidence and Trends in 20 High School Sports, Pediatrics 144(5): e20192190. International Review of Law, Computers & Technology, 25(1/2), 33-41. Bentham’s theory of political morality gave way for the theory of universal interest, defined as “a set of interests held in common by all members of the community in the realization of which each member has a distinct and positive share” (Postema, 2006). Is it always a consideration that buyers should take into account? We Know Little About the Long-term Effects of Concussions, Statnews, Sept.27, 2019. Such a cost-benefit analysis should be impartial — In other words, a decision should equally consider the effects on everyone with no special treatment for your friends, family, or self.. A classic example of utilitarian logic is called the Trolley Problem. Over two regular seasons (2012-2014), NFL players sustained 4,384 injuries, including 301 concussions. Interests, universal and particular: Bentham's utilitarian theory of value. [8] Such proteins develop in tangles that slowly strangle neurons and, consequently, inhibit brain function.[9]. Football causes more concussions than any other high school sport. What moral principles would you take into account? Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that determines right from wrong by focusing on outcomes. 8 short videos present the 7 principles of values-driven leadership from Giving Voice to Values by Mary Gentile. JUSTICE, UTILITARIANISM, AND RIGHTS 1 John Rawls' A Theory of Justice is reminiscent of a work of Kant's in the painful care with which it is written, in the intri cacy and meticulousness of its arguments, and in the embellish ments it adds to the latest and best in the intellectual tech niques of an era. Like other forms of consequentialism, its core idea is that whether actions are morally right or wrong depends on their effects. Rights are generally defined as justified claims for the protection of general interests. Despite these historical roots, we now tend think of utilitarianism as fundamentally at odds with right-theory (for reasons discussed in lecture). [20] Philip H. Montenigro et al., Cumulative Head Impact Exposure Predicts Later-Life Depression, Apathy, Executive Dysfunction, and Cognitive Impairment in Former High School and College Players, Journal of Neurotraumua 34(2) (2017). Is this an ethical issue? Rights, Welfare, and Mill’s Moral Theory. Do you agree? [15] Everett J. Lehman et al., Neurodegenerative Causes of Death Among Retired National Football League Players, Neurology, 79(19): 1970-1974 (2012). Children between the ages of 9 and 14 make up the largest cohort of football players in the U.S. https://www.cell.com/current-biology/pdf/S0960-9822(19)31097-8.pdf, Greshko, Michael, “Ancient Bird Foot Found in Amber Has Bizarrely Long Toes,” National Geographic, July 11, 2019.   https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2019/07/fossil-bird-in-amber-has-unusually-long-toes/, Lawton, Graham, “Blood Amber: The Exquisite Trove of Fossils Fueling War in Myanmar,” NewScientist, May 1, 2019. https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24232280-600-blood-amber-the-exquisite-trove-of-fossils-fuelling-war-in-myanmar/, Nelson, Alexandrea, “The Materiality of Morality: Conflict Minerals,” Utah Law Review, 2014: 1, p. 219 (2014). As such, it moves beyond the scope of one's own interests and takes into account the interests of others. The principle of utilitarianism invites us to consider the immediate and the less immediate consequences of our actions. In deciding whether it is ethical for you to buy amber from Myanmar, do you need to guard against the self-serving bias unduly affecting your decision? As told in the movies, a significant scientific breakthrough occurred in 2002 when an African-American neuropathologist in Pittsburgh named Bennet Omalu (played by Will Smith in the 2015 movie “Concussion”) performed an autopsy on Hall of Fame center Mike Webster. utilitarianism supports strong rights both of democratic participation and of individual freedom of action. Ramogi Huma, executive director of the National College Players Association, argued that schools should be required to fully inform [college] players about the risks of playing football now, including information about their susceptibilities to underlying health conditions. [4] Center for Disease Control, at https://www.cdc.gov/traumaticbraininjury/index.html. We Know Little About the Long-term Effects of Concussions, Statnews, Sept.27, 2019. 30 videos - one minute each - relate recent scandals in the news and give ethical insights. [10] David W. Lawrence et al., Descriptive Epidemiology of Musculoskeletal Injuries and Concussions in the National Football League, 2021-2014, Orthopedic Journal of Sports Medicine, 2015:3(5):2325967115583653. How do the tau clumps relate to the clinical syndrome—do the lesions fully explain the mood and memory problems? Do these choices remind you of the COVID-19 pandemic when governments, in deciding whether to shut down society and later when to reopen it, had to weigh lives vs. livelihoods? SAMPLE. The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is a very prominent example of the philosophy of 'Utilitarianism'. Some utilitarians, however, have sought to modify the utilitarian theory to accommodate the objections. The government then forced more than 5000 inhabitants from their homes and villages, as well as from the amber mines. Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that says that the right thing to do in any situation is whatever will “do the most good” (that is, whatever will produce the best outcomes) taking into consideration the interests of all concerned parties. Chen also points to the uncertainties of the science, noting: “For now, these complexities make certain questions about the disease unanswerable. Retrieved July 2012, from Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/UDHR/Documents/UDHR_Translations/eng.pdf. Players Hit Back, New York Times, Sept. 26, 2017. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 23(3), 263-275. For example, assume a hospital has four people whose lives depend upon receiving organ transplants: a heart, lungs, a kidney, and a liver. Thus, they are disproportionately exposed to concussions and other injuries that arise from the game. They’re healthy … And people say that’s crazy. 3. Resolution of the human rights violations discussed can be ranked in accordance with Bentham’s theory of utilitarianism. Social welfarism is understood as the concerns of the community, based on the “good of the community” or it’s well-being as a whole. Despite their heightened susceptibility to concussions, youth football players rarely sustain concussions because they are lighter and collide with less force than older players. Individual welfarism argues that all other moral concerns must be based on the “welfare of individuals”. As a utilitarian, he was critical of the idea of moral rights, but conceded that the rights could be useful in legal systems. Utilitarianism is one of the best known and most influential moral theories. The difficulty with this theory stems from defining and aggregating a measure of utility comparable for all people in a cost-benefit analysis. [46] Robert F. Heary et al., Is Youth Football Safe? Commentary on Utilitarian Theory and Human Rights . Do you think these critiques are counterbalanced by the fact that the riches that are often lavished upon NFL players go disproportionately to African-Americans as well? Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that defends that we should act in ways that bring about as much happiness as possible in the world. Again, these studies are broken down by league level: Studies such as these provide ammunition for those who defend organized football as an institution. [51] Kevin Seifer, Did the Helmet Rule Actually Work? Why or why not? Dr. Omalu identified abnormal clumps of the protein tau in Webster’s brain, which he believed to be evidence of CTE. The first component, communal consequentialism, describes morality as being the basis of promoting the public welfare of the community. Why or why not? Explain. New Yorker writer Ingfei Chen observed that Fisher-Price had been required to recall a collapsible crib that was associated with 32 infant deaths. Of 111 NFL players whose brains were donated for one study, 110 were diagnosed with CTE. The Kachin Independence Army, which includes ethnic minorities who live in the northern Kachin and surrounding regions of Myanmar, has been in armed conflict with the Myanmar government for the restoration of minority ethnic groups’ rights. A valid theory cannot have faulty conclusions, and so thinkingabout rights shows utilitarianism not to be a valid normative theory. The most basic utilitarian critique of human rights lies in the assertion that resources are scarce in any society, and especially limited in some. Here, I want to examine utilitarian arguments for rights in general, with an eye toward the commonly recognized core of human rights. [50] Ken Belson, Judge Approves Deal in N.F.L. Some argue against paternalism and in favor of individual choice, believing that adults (at least) should be able to choose to engage in boxing (and presumably to play football) despite its potentially adverse consequences for brain health. [77] Dave Bry, American Football is Too Dangerous, and It Should Be Abolished, The Guardian (UK), Jan. 4, 2016 (quoting CBS News quoting, in turn, Dr. John York). Others suggest that the uncertainty favors taking actions now rather than waiting until too much damage is done, as happened with tobacco. Regarding sports concussions, President Obama stated: “We have to change a culture that says ‘you suck it up and play through a brain injury…. 47 Bergen St--Floor 3, Brooklyn, NY 11201, USA, Sorry, but copying text is forbidden on this However, in 2017 the Myanmar government dropped leaflets from helicopters informing the population in northern Kachin that civilians and Kachin militants who remain in the region will be considered hostile opposition to the government military forces. We review and discuss axiomatizations of utilitarian and generalized-utilitarian social-evaluation functionals in a welfarist framework. Actconsequentialism is the claim that an act is morally right if andonly if that act maximizes the good, that is, if and only if the totalamount of good for all minus the total amount of bad for all is greaterthan this net amount for any incompatible … The Utilitarian theory of property seeks to maximize the population’s utility when a property decision is made, the greatest good for the greatest amount of people. Daniel Goldberg, What Does the Precautionary Principle Demand of Us? Second, the common interests of the community are included and understood by all as being common interests. This is maximizing the “good” and minimizing the “bad” For example it would be fair to torture a person in order to save others. [35]  Other studies have involved skewed samples, including one where all the NFL players’ brains had been donated because of mental declines that the donors had suffered before their deaths.[36]. Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) initiated the interest theory. utilitarianism (yo͞o'tĭlĭtr`ēənĭzəm, yo͞otĭ'–), in ethics, the theory that the rightness or wrongness of an action is determined by its usefulness in bringing about the most happiness of all those affected by it.Utilitarianism is a form of consequentialism, which advocates that those actions are right which bring about the most good overall. Utilitarianism is a normative ethical theory that places the locus of right and wrong solely on the outcomes (consequences) of choosing one action/policy over other actions/policies. One could argue that laws that endorse the death penalty are a violation of security rights, especially given the fact that a fool-proof method of proving guilt exists. This theory is based on the assumption that offenders are punished to prevent and discourage them from engaging in crimes in future. Security, Unique An Analysis of Youth Football Head Impact Data, Neurosurgery (Jan. 2020), available at https://doi.org/10.1093/neuros/nyz563. The theory of property rights is not concerned with total societal gains and losses. Though the first systematic account of utilitarianism was developedby Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832), the core insight motivating the theoryoccurred much earlier. (1964). [29] Julie Mack, What Parents Need to Know about Football, Concussions and Head Injuries, mlive.com, Nov. 24, 2019, at https://www.mlive.com/news/2019/11/what-parents-need-to-know-about-football-and-head-injuries.html (quoting neuroscientist Julie Stamm). [93] Daniel Goldberg, What Does the Precautionary Principle Demand of Us? [30] Julie M. Stamm et al., Age of First Exposure to Football and Later-life Cognitive Impairment in Former NFL Players, Neurology, 84(11): 1114-1120 (2015). While some researchers and universities feel as though they should refrain from making such amber purchases, their failure to participate enables many private collectors to remove collections from the public or to charge researchers an exorbitant fee for access. We have an incomplete understanding of the extent or distribution of pathology required to produce neurological dysfunction or to distinguish diseased from healthy tissue, with the neuropathological changes reported in apparently asymptomatic individuals.”[33], Neuropsychologist Munro Cullum argues: “I worry the pendulum has swung too far. [5] Although concussions can carry serious consequences, they are termed a “mild” form of TBI because they are not typically life threatening.