justice2.docx

justice2.docx

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justice2

Lesson2

Lasttime,wearguedaboutthecaseofTheQueenv.Dudley&Stephens,thelifeboatcase,thecaseofcannibalismatsea.

Andwiththeargumentsaboutthelifeboatinmind,theargumentsforandagainstwhatDudleyandStephensdidinmind,let'sturnbacktothephilosophy,theutilitarianphilosophyofJeremyBentham.

BenthamwasborninEnglandin1748.

Attheageof12,hewenttoOxford.

At15,hewenttolawschool.

HewasadmittedtotheBaratage19butheneverpracticedlaw.

Instead,hedevotedhislifetojurisprudenceandmoralphilosophy.

Lasttime,webegantoconsiderBentham'sversionofutilitarianism.

Themainideaissimplystatedandit'sthis:

Thehighestprincipleofmorality,whetherpersonalorpoliticalmorality,istomaximizethegeneralwelfare,orthecollectivehappiness,ortheoverallbalanceofpleasureoverpain;inaphrase,maximizeutility.

Benthamarrivesatthisprinciplebythefollowinglineofreasoning:

We'reallgovernedbypainandpleasure,theyareoursovereignmasters,andsoanymoralsystemhastotakeaccountofthem.

Howbesttotakeaccount?

Bymaximizing.

Andthisleadstotheprincipleofthegreatestgoodforthegreatestnumber.

Whatexactlyshouldwemaximize?

Benthamtellsushappiness,ormoreprecisely,utility-maximizingutilityasaprinciplenotonlyforindividualsbutalsoforcommunitiesandforlegislators."What,afterall,isacommunity?

"Benthamasks.

It'sthesumoftheindividualswhocompriseit.

Andthat'swhyindecidingthebestpolicy,indecidingwhatthelawshouldbe,indecidingwhat'sjust,citizensandlegislatorsshouldaskthemselvesthequestionifweaddupallofthebenefitsofthispolicyandsubtractallofthecosts,therightthingtodoistheonethatmaximizesthebalanceofhappinessoversuffering.

That'swhatitmeanstomaximizeutility.

Now,today,Iwanttoseewhetheryouagreeordisagreewithit,anditoftengoes,thisutilitarianlogic,underthenameofcost-benefitanalysis,whichisusedbycompaniesandbygovernmentsallthetime.

Andwhatitinvolvesisplacingavalue,usuallyadollarvalue,tostandforutilityonthecostsandthebenefitsofvariousproposals.

Recently,intheCzechRepublic,therewasaproposaltoincreasetheexcisetaxonsmoking.

PhilipMorris,thetobaccocompany,doeshugebusinessintheCzechRepublic.

Theycommissionedastudy,acost-benefitanalysisofsmokingintheCzechRepublic,andwhattheircost-benefitanalysisfoundwasthegovernmentgainsbyhavingCzechcitizenssmoke.

Now,howdotheygain?

It'struethattherearenegativeeffectstothepublicfinanceoftheCzechgovernmentbecausethereareincreasedhealthcarecostsforpeoplewhodevelopsmoking-relateddiseases.

Ontheotherhand,therewerepositiveeffectsandthosewereaddedupontheothersideoftheledger.

Thepositiveeffectsincluded,forthemostpart,varioustaxrevenuesthatthegovernmentderivesfromthesaleofcigaretteproducts,butitalsoincludedhealthcaresavingstothegovernmentwhenpeopledieearly,pensionsavings--youdon'thavetopaypensionsforaslong-andalso,savingsinhousingcostsfortheelderly.

Andwhenallofthecostsandbenefitswereaddedup,thePhilipMorrisstudyfoundthatthereisanetpublicfinancegainintheCzechRepublicof$147,000,000,andgiventhesavingsinhousing,inhealthcare,andpensioncosts,thegovernmentenjoyssavingsofover$1,200foreachpersonwhodiesprematurelyduetosmoking.

Cost-benefitanalysis.

Now,thoseamongyouwhoaredefendersofutilitarianismmaythinkthatthisisanunfairtest.

PhilipMorriswaspilloriedinthepressandtheyissuedanapologyforthisheartlesscalculation.

Youmaysaythatwhat'smissinghereissomethingthattheutilitariancaneasilyincorporate,namelythevaluetothepersonandtothefamiliesofthosewhodiefromlungcancer.

Whataboutthevalueoflife?

Somecost-benefitanalysesincorporateameasureforthevalueoflife.

OneofthemostfamousoftheseinvolvedtheFordPintocase.

Didanyofyoureadaboutthat?

Thiswasbackinthe1970s.

DoyourememberwhattheFordPintowas,akindofcar?

Anybody?

Itwasasmallcar,subcompactcar,verypopular,butithadoneproblem,whichisthefueltankwasatthebackofthecarandinrearcollisions,thefueltankexplodedandsomepeoplewerekilledandsomeseverelyinjured.

VictimsoftheseinjuriestookFordtocourttosue.

Andinthecourtcase,itturnedoutthatFordhadlongsinceknownaboutthevulnerablefueltankandhaddoneacost-benefitanalysistodeterminewhetheritwouldbeworthittoputinaspecialshieldthatwouldprotectthefueltankandpreventitfromexploding.

Theydidacost-benefitanalysis.

ThecostperparttoincreasethesafetyofthePinto,theycalculatedat$11.00perpart.

Andhere's--thiswasthecost-benefitanalysisthatemergedinthetrial.

Elevendollarsperpartat12.5millioncarsandtruckscametoatotalcostof$137milliontoimprovethesafety.

Butthentheycalculatedthebenefitsofspendingallthismoneyonasafercarandtheycounted180deathsandtheyassignedadollarvalue,$200,000perdeath,andthenthecoststorepair,105thereplacementcostfor2,000vehicles,itwouldbedestroyedwithoutthesafetydevice$700pervehicle.

Sothebenefitsturnedouttobeonly$49.5millionandsotheydidn'tinstallthedevice.

Needlesstosay,whenthismemooftheFordMotorCompany'scost-benefitanalysiscameoutinthetrial,itappalledthejurors,whoawardedahugesettlement.

Isthisacounterexampletotheutilitarianideaofcalculating?

BecauseFordincludedameasureofthevalueoflife.

Now,whoherewantstodefendcost-benefitanalysisfromthisapparentcounterexample?

Whohasadefense?

Ordoyouthinkthiscompletelydestroysthewholeutilitariancalculus?

Yes?

Well,Ithinkthatonceagain,they'vemadethesamemistakethepreviouscasedid,thattheyassignedadollarvaluetohumanlife,andonceagain,theyfailedtotakeaccountthingslikesufferingandemotionallossesbythefamilies.

Imean,familieslostearningsbuttheyalsolostalovedoneandthatismorevaluedthan$200,000.

Rightand--wait,wait,wait,that'sgood.What'syourname?

JulieRoteau.

Soif$200,000,Julie,istoolowafigurebecauseitdoesn'tincludethelossofalovedoneandthelossofthoseyearsoflife,whatwouldbe-whatdoyouthinkwouldbeamoreaccuratenumber?

Idon'tbelieveIcouldgiveanumber.

Ithinkthatthissortofanalysisshouldn'tbeappliedtoissuesofhumanlife.

Ithinkitcan'tbeusedmonetarily.

Sotheydidn'tjustputtoolowanumber,Juliesays.

Theywerewrongtotrytoputanynumberatall.

Allright,let'shearsomeonewho-Youhavetoadjustforinflation.

Youhavetoadjustforinflation.

Allright,fairenough.

Sowhatwouldthenumberbenow?

Thiswas35yearsago.

Twomilliondollars.

Twomilliondollars?

Youwouldputtwomillion?

Andwhat'syourname?

VoytekVoyteksayswehavetoallowforinflation.

Weshouldbemoregenerous.

Thenwouldyoubesatisfiedthatthisistherightwayofthinkingaboutthequestion?

Iguess,unfortunately,itisfor-thereneedstobeanumberputsomewhere,like,I'mnotsurewhatthatnumberwouldbe,butIdoagreethattherecouldpossiblybeanumberputonthehumanlife.

Allright,soVoyteksays,andhere,hedisagreeswithJulie.

Juliesayswecan'tputanumberonhumanlifeforthepurposeofacost-benefitanalysis.

Voyteksayswehavetobecausewehavetomakedecisionssomehow.

Whatdootherpeoplethinkaboutthis?

Isthereanyonepreparedtodefendcost-benefitanalysishereasaccurateasdesirable?

Yes?

Goahead.

IthinkthatifFordandothercarcompaniesdidn'tusecost-benefitanalysis,they'deventuallygooutofbusinessbecausetheywouldn'tbeabletobeprofitableandmillionsofpeoplewouldn'tbeabletousetheircarstogettojobs,toputfoodonthetable,tofeedtheirchildren.

SoIthinkthatifcost-benefitanalysisisn'temployed,thegreatergoodissacrificed,inthiscase.

Allright,letmeadd.

What'syourname?

Raul.

Raul,therewasrecentlyastudydoneaboutcellphoneusebyadriverwhenpeoplearedrivingacar,andtherewasadebatewhetherthatshouldbebanned.

Yeah.

Andthefigurewasthatsome2,000peopledieasaresultofaccidentseachyearusingcellphones.

Andyet,thecost-benefitanalysiswhichwasdonebytheCenterforRiskAnalysisatHarvardfoundthatifyoulookatthebenefitsofthecellphoneuseandyouputsomevalueonthelife,itcomesoutaboutthesamebecauseoftheenormouseconomicbenefitofenablingpeopletotakeadvantageoftheirtime,notwastetime,beabletomakedealsandtalktofriendsandsoonwhilethey'redriving.

Doesn'tthatsuggestthatit'samistaketotrytoputmonetaryfiguresonquestionsofhumanlife?

Well,Ithinkthatifthegreatmajorityofpeopletrytoderivemaximumutilityoutofaservice,likeusingcellphonesandtheconveniencethatcellphonesprovide,thatsacrificeisnecessaryforsatisfactiontooccur.

You'reanoutrightutilitarian.

Yes.Okay.

Allrightthen,onelastquestion,Raul.-Okay.

AndIputthistoVoytek,whatdollarfigureshouldbeputonhumanlifetodecidewhethertobantheuseofcellphones?

Well,Idon'twanttoarbitrarilycalculateafigure,Imean,rightnow.

Ithinkthat-Youwanttotakeitunderadvisement?

Yeah,I'lltakeitunderadvisement.

Butwhat,roughlyspeaking,woulditbe?

Yougot2,300deaths.-Okay.

Yougottoassignadollarvaluetoknowwhetheryouwanttopreventthosedeathsbybanningtheuseofcellphonesincars.-Okay.

Sowhatwouldyourhunchbe?

Howm