PHI_445 Week 3 Discussion, Current Business Problems: Case Studies: British Petroleum

PHI_445 Week 3 Discussion, Current Business Problems: Case Studies: British Petroleum Out of all the chicken consumed in the United States, Perdue produces the most. 9,900 concentrated animal feeding operations farms produce approximately 80% of the meat consumed by Americans averaging 270 pound per person every year (Fieser, 2015). Utilitarianism is the moral good of pleasure and is achieved by acting in ways that bring about increased pleasure and reduced pain, and results that appeal to the greater good. Shouldn’t everything affected by an action be taken into consideration-whether it is human or not? “Jeremy Bentham incorporated the essential basis of moral equality into his utilitarian system of ethics in the formula: “Each to count for one and none for more than one” (Singer, 1989, p. 3). Henry Sidgwick, another utilitarian stated that “the good of any one individual is of no more importance, from the point of view of the Universe, than the good of any other” (Singer, 1989, p. 3). Therefore, if something has the capacity to suffer then it should be taken into consideration. Craig Watts debated taking action against Perdue concerning chickens being raised in inhumane conditions. He spoke up for the greater good and demonstrated moral freedom of not participating in practices that produced suffering. Stathopoulos (2010), explained how these concentrated animal feeding operations confine them into unsanitary conditions, feed them harmful substances and give them hormones, stating that they “closely resemble fetid prisons than farms” (p.410). Not only should we be concerned for the welfare of the animals, but also the health of humans as well. The animals are bred for quantity, not quality and the hormones and antibiotics eventually end up in the consumers. Factory farming is a cheaper way to mass produce meat, but cheaper does not mean that it is better. We need to rethink our want for more and focus on what we need and care about what we are doing to these animals that we eventually end up eating. As far as laws surrounding factory farming, “since animals raised for food production receive virtually no protection under federal law and only ineffective protection under state anti-cruelty laws,18 the regulation of their treatment is left to the farm industry itself” (Stathopoulos, 2010, p. 411). The FDA has the authority to regulate activities on farm sites to prevent unsafe food products; however the USDA doesn’t have authority to regulate the safety of food products on a farm level (Stathopoulos, 2010, p. 410). The national humane education society (2016) maintains that there are no federal laws setting humane care standards for factory farming. Fieser, J. (2015). Introduction to business ethics [Electronic version]. Retrieved from The National Humane Education Society. (2016). Government Regulation of Factory Farms. Retrieved from Singer, P. (1989). All animals are equal. In T. Regan & P. Singer (Eds.), Animal rights and human obligations (pp. 148-162). Retrieved from Stathopoulos, A. S. (2010). You are what your food eats: How regulation of factory farm conditions could improve human health and animal welfare alike. Legislation and Public Policy, 13, 407-444. Retrieved from