J.S. Mill's Utilitarianism and the Ford Pinto Case
J.S. Mill (77 -78), in arguing in favor of that school of philosophy and ethics called Utilitarianism, made the point that the maximization of personal human happiness is a desirable and even necessary end. Further, Mill (90 -91) suggested that all ethics have the base in utility, or the degree to which the greatest good for the greatest number of people can be achieved. Moving away from earlier Utilitarians such as David Hume and Jeremy Bentham, Mill also posited that the quality of pleasure was as significant as the actual amount of pleasure to be obtained from an action. Mill also defined (65) a powerful theory of individual rights, offering a classic statement in On Liberty of what is traditionally known as "liberalism," arguing that the only reason to limit the freedom of one individual is to protect the freedom of another.
Understood properly, Utilitarianism as advanced by Mill (39 -40) suggests that decisions should be made regarding choices of action based on their individual likelihood of bringing about an increase in pain and/or pleasure. Ideally, actions should lead to an increase in pleasure or happiness (for the largest number of individuals possible) while simultaneously decreasing pain or suffering (again, for the largest number possible (Solomon and Higgins, 230). These notions û that the goal of right action should be the maximization of "happiness" and the reduction of pain or suffering, keeping in mind the greatest good for the greatest number of individuals û are applicable to the infamous Ford Motor Company Pinto case.
In this case, Ford made a decision that placing a low-cost safety device in its Pinto line of cars and trucks would not be cost-effective. Ford used data generated by the National Highway Safety Board that set the "value" of a human life at slightly more than $200,000, and data suggesting that were the safety device not ins...