Critical Response Essays
When Keegan received his Master’s Degree in Industrial Design from a top university, he was overwhelmed with job offers. He decided to work for HappyPlace, Inc., where he designed ergonomic office and assembly line equipment. He enjoyed his job and was very good at it.
One day, after he had been working for 10 years, he got some bad news. HappyPlace, Inc. was being taken over by Bigfoot, Inc. Bigfoot had its own design staff, so Keegan and his colleagues at HappyPlace were no longer needed and their employment was terminated.
Keegan didn’t expect much trouble finding a new position, but the economy was very different from when he left school, and several months went by with no success. Soon it was two years and Keegan was very discouraged. His wife was working two jobs and he and the children hardly saw her. They were having trouble making their mortgage payment, and were in danger of losing their home to foreclosure.
Then Keegan was contacted by a recruiter about a job at Devious, Inc. Devious was supposedly working on hardware for video game systems, and though Keegan wasn’t much of a gamer, the company was confident he would do well. He took the job, which paid much more than his old job and included many benefits.
Keegan’s wife was able to quit both of her jobs and the family was finally financially stable. Things were going very well until Keegan discovered that his company was not really making video game systems. Instead they were making weapons systems which they planned to sell to various governments.
Keegan did not want to be involved in weapons research but when he talks to one of his former professors about it, the professor says that work is going to be done with or without him, and he’d be a fool to quit such a well-paying job.
If Keegan were a Utilitarian, would he stay or quit?
If Keegan were a Deontologist (Kant), would he stay or quit?
Answer for each theory in a one page, double spaced. Describe the process Keegan would use to make his decision.
scenario is inspired by a similar one in Smart and Williams, Utilitarianism For and Against.
Answer Preview
The first type of utilitarianism is act utilitarianism which states that when an individual is faced with a decision, they must consider the consequences of this decision and choose whether their decision generates the overall happiness of people. Hence, in regards to Reagan, he would quit because his decision to continue to work for that company…
(783 Words)