Although, the Hillsborough incident is a complex issue with many stakeholders and perspectives, in order for analysis I will focus on the behaviour exhibited by the Police and Media, using the framework of Kant and others.
Since the majority of Hillsborough centres on the grave consequences, utilising a non-consequentialist theory such as Kantianism provides balance. Kant’s theory is deontological it judges morality by examining the motive and rationalisation of actions; rather than goals achieved.
Since Kant’s theory emphasises rationalisation, in regards to Police the attention would be on Chief Superintendent Duckenfield, the match commander on the day of the Hillsborough disaster. Duckenfield, a rational person, made the decision to …show more content…
Utilitarianism is a consequentialist theory, which states an action is morally correct if it results in the greatest amount of good for the greatest number of people affected by the action. Although, it is recognisable that by creating the most shocking front-page and likely selling a vast amount of papers, MacKenzie benefitted his shareholders financially, the harm to society of the actions far outweighed this. The defamation of Hillsborough survivors, many already suffering from survivor’s guilt, post-traumatic stress disorders and/or alcoholism, had a deep negative impact on supporters, hindering their mental recovery process (‘Hillsborough’s Untold Stories’ 5 Live Sport Podcast). Therefore, in a Utilitarianism perspective this decision is morally …show more content…
Accordingly to his principles the only social responsibility of business is to increase its profit. Thus the actions of MacKenzie can be morally justified, as he is an executive responsibility to act solely in the interests of the organisation and shareholders. However, it can be argued that the brand contamination and eventual boycott of the newspaper resulted in the action not even being beneficial to the shareholders. This stance shows the difficulty in applying ethical framework to situations, as it is unlikely Friedman himself would state the Sun’s actions were morally
Since the majority of Hillsborough centres on the grave consequences, utilising a non-consequentialist theory such as Kantianism provides balance. Kant’s theory is deontological it judges morality by examining the motive and rationalisation of actions; rather than goals achieved.
Since Kant’s theory emphasises rationalisation, in regards to Police the attention would be on Chief Superintendent Duckenfield, the match commander on the day of the Hillsborough disaster. Duckenfield, a rational person, made the decision to …show more content…
Utilitarianism is a consequentialist theory, which states an action is morally correct if it results in the greatest amount of good for the greatest number of people affected by the action. Although, it is recognisable that by creating the most shocking front-page and likely selling a vast amount of papers, MacKenzie benefitted his shareholders financially, the harm to society of the actions far outweighed this. The defamation of Hillsborough survivors, many already suffering from survivor’s guilt, post-traumatic stress disorders and/or alcoholism, had a deep negative impact on supporters, hindering their mental recovery process (‘Hillsborough’s Untold Stories’ 5 Live Sport Podcast). Therefore, in a Utilitarianism perspective this decision is morally …show more content…
Accordingly to his principles the only social responsibility of business is to increase its profit. Thus the actions of MacKenzie can be morally justified, as he is an executive responsibility to act solely in the interests of the organisation and shareholders. However, it can be argued that the brand contamination and eventual boycott of the newspaper resulted in the action not even being beneficial to the shareholders. This stance shows the difficulty in applying ethical framework to situations, as it is unlikely Friedman himself would state the Sun’s actions were morally