Business Ethics

Writing Assignment 1: The Ford Pinto

Directions: Read the following case study: “The Ford Pinto" (Case 2.2, pp. 74-77 in your textbook). Once you have finished reading the article, write a 2-3 page paper in which you discuss the following: Utilitarians would say that jeopardizing motorists does not by itself make Ford's actions morally objectionable. The only morally relevant matter is whether Ford gave equal consideration to the interests of each affected party. Do you think Ford did this? Why or why not? What do you think would be Kant's response to the idea of placing monetary value on a human life? From the point of view of a Kantian, is doing so ever morally legitimate? Why?

Do not waste space retyping the question or summarizing the article. Use the space allotted to answer the question.

This paper should be written entirely in your own words. If you must quote from the article, quotations should be kept short (no more than 10 words in length). There should not be more than two quotations in this paper. Quoted language must be placed in quotation marks. Failure to do so is plagiarism. Plagiarized assignments will receive a 0, and you will be dropped from the course.

No outside sources of any kind may be used when writing this paper. People using outside sources will not receive credit for this assignment. All the information that you need to answer the question is contained in your textbook and in the class notes.

Papers should be typed, double-spaced with standard margins. Use 12-point Times New Roman type (the same size and font used in these directions). Pages should be numbered and stapled together. No cover page is required.

See the Writing Assignments Grading Rubric (in the Grading Rubrics folder) before beginning to write this paper.

All papers must be submitted via the drop box. If you have trouble submitting your paper the first time, try again. No emailed papers will be accepted. Late papers will not be accepted.

Please save this assignment in Microsoft Word and name it in the following manner: FirstinitialLastname_writingassignment1.doc. For example, JThibault_writingassignment1.doc. If you save your paper in another format, and my computer cannot open it, you will receive a grade of 0. I will not allow you to email me the paper or resubmit it in a different format.

Click on the link (the name of the assignment) to locate the drop box. If you need help, click on the Help link on the left side of the screen or at the top of the screen on the right.