Jotting #11 - Utalitarianism

NOTE: Jotting#9 and 10 have been skipped on purpose. In case you are curious this is what they were on.

• Jotting #9: Pick one of the questions at the end of The Hummer Case and give it an honest answer. (basically I ranted about the drawbacks of a Hummer)

• Jotting #10 What aspect of consumption would you like to focus on in your research paper? Use class readings and discussions and the Brain Teasers listed above to come up with a solid topic.

JOTTING 11:
Question/Prompt: How would a Utilitarian ethicist approach the questions raised in Who Killed the Electric Car/ The Hummer topic discussed last week?

My Response:
There are different sides you can take on the issue of “Who Killed the Electric Car” and “The Hummer Topic”. If issues such as these were blatantly obvious then reaching a ubiquitous solution would not be as big a problem. However, there are points to be made by both sides which merit some consideration. I will look at both issues in light of utilitarianism.

The electric car was created for a number of reasons, one of them being to preserve the deteriorating environment. The preservation of the environment is an important step in protecting and furthering all life on the planet, humans and non. Thus when the EV’s where discontinued it was in violation of what a utilitarian would reason is right to do. As a result of the EV’s being discontinued the development of vehicles that do less harm to the environment are ignored and gas powered vehicles, which produce greater harm to the environment are allowed to continue.

The next issue is the Hummer. It is not as easy to determine that owning a hummer is explicitly bad. A hummer can be used to protect and provide safe transportation for not only troops but those who desire to keep their cargo as safe as possible. The Hummer vehicle is well built and able to withstand “punishment” from foreign objects whether they be bullets, out-of-control-cars or massive potholes. In this sense it is affecting the passengers who in turn provide “units of utility”. However, as was given by example in Harris book the number of people affected multiplied by the “Units of Utility per person” is overshadowed by its detrimental effects to the environment. As was outlined in the article we read about the Hummer there is very little environmentally friendly about the Hummer. The amount of gas the Hummer consumes expedites the environmental degradation process. Furthermore it is debatable whether buying a Hummer to keep your family safe on slippery roads is entirely necessary. It is more permissible from a utilitarianistic perspective to operate a hummer for military purposes than it is to keep your children safe. Nevertheless it has a high number of people it will effect in the long run making it a bad thing both in people effected and in “units of utility”.

In conclusion both the destruction of the EV’s and the purchasing of Hummers by homeowners is not permissible. A utilitarian “judges a rule by its consequences” and the consequences of these things have grave effects on not only human life but all life on earth.