Course: BUS 702 Legal and Ethical Issues

Assignment on Child Labor viewed through Kantian and

Utilitarian ethics
Name: ABRAR KARIM
ID-17206002
SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
Program: EMBA

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Introduction
Child Labor has been viewed as a genuine good issue that extraordinarily influences the lives of
numerous youngsters around the globe. This paper tries to give a significant comprehension of
youngster work through an extensive discourse of its history and present status, the reasons
why it exists, and the approaches to abridge its frequency. Promote, this paper endeavors to
see the moral worries of this wonder in view of the premises of Utilitarian and Kantian morals.
On the main points of Kantian morals, child Labor is ethically wrong since it abuses the poise
and dismisses the privileges of a child. At Kantian it is said that doesn’t matter how much
problem a family faces financially, parent should not send their child to work. In actuality,
Utilitarian morals contends that Child work is ethically right since it gives neediness stricken
families a wellspring of wage; along these lines, it conveys joy and bliss to the best greater part.

Kantianism
Kantian ethics emphasized on that the good will is the only good without qualification and it is a
will that acts for the sake of duty, as a “good-in-itself”. Motive is the key factor to identify
ethical action, and action that performed out the “Sense of duty” is a moral action (Vlach, M.,
2004). The Categorical imperative is an absolute command which must be followed for its own
sake (Charlottec, 2010). They are “The universal law”, “Treat humans as ends in themselves”,
and “Act as if you live in a kingdom of ends” (Bowie, R., 2004). Kantian approach is sometimes
not relevant to business and management due to its inflexibility, no emphasis on consequences
and duties can conflict in certain circumstances (Charlottec, 2010). In Brian F. Weber V. Kaiser
Aluminum case; the company’s decision to send employees for training was sued by one of its
employee due to the training is only benefits to the company (Mightystudents.com, 2010).
According to Kant’s categorical imperative, an action should be universally accepted for it to be
moral (Mightystudents.com, 2010). Training is benefit to both employees and employers, and
employees have duty to allow employers to improve their skills (Mightystudents.com, 2010). So
in this point of view the company’s act is morally right. But In reality business world, companies
created the training are solely just to benefit themselves from the improvement of their
employee’s efficiency which link to cost reduction (Mightystudents.com, 2010). Although
Training is universalized, but the act of the company sending the employees for training just for
the benefit of the companies to a large extent, thus treating employees as ends and not means,
therefore the approach is irrelevant. Kantian approach is relevant to business and management
in some circumstances. When there is a certain morality took place, certain business institution
that were not feasible good can become feasibly improved and develop (Bowie, N.E., 1999). By
using the example of the improvement of a Russian Stock market, before this the country faced
difficulties in developing its stock market due to 1 the company spokespersons are not
providing accurate information regarding their companies, so investors were not forthcoming,
as Kantian would expect (Bowie, N.E., 1999). Gradually, some companies for example Irkutsk

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Enerego, Bratsky LPK, and Rostelecom were managed to develop a reputation as truth tellers
and make them to be able to attract investors (Bowie, N.E., 1999).
Utilitarianism
The utilitarianism theory of ethics contributed by Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart state that
decisions should be made base on the greatest good for the greatest number of people without
considering the action itself (AllBusiness.com, 2010). An action is morally right if it lead to the
good consequences that contained happiness (exclude pain), or bring greatest happiness for
the greatest number of people in the society (BusienssDictionary.com, 2010). For utilitarian,
justice requires the maximization of the total or average welfare across all relevant individuals
(Police web, 2010). Looking on the case of the Malaysia Public Service Department (PSD)
overseas scholarship programmed that being complaints and fight over by various parties due
to its unfairness in distributing the scholarship (Siew.Z.2009). Once the scholarship results are
announced, the media and political parties will start to complaints that Malaysia certificate of
education (SPM) students who netted A1s in the double digits are failed to secure a scholarship,
and majority of them is non bumiputera (refer to Malaysian who is not Malay or Indigenous
people), finally rise up various critics (Siew.Z.2009). The scholarship that introduced by PSD is a
benefit to all SPM high achievers in Malaysia regardless of races is in line with the criteria of
maximizing the good under utilitarianism. But this good (scholarship) are not being fairly
distributed to the candidates who achieve brilliant in SPM, and furthermore it is majority
distributed to bumiputera (Malay and indigenous people in Malaysia). Other than this, there
are also students who successes to be awarded with 6As SPM result. Hence, it reveals the
weakness of utilitarianism in distributing this maximizing good fairly among people and group.

Eradicating the Problem

To eradicate the problem of child labor it is seen that many Church and labor groups, teachers,
and many other people are greatly enraged by the cruelty and mercilessness child labor brings.
Philippine is not alone in the effort to eradicate child labor. It is truly an international campaign.
The elimination of child labor has always been central to the aims of the ILO. In fact the first
international standard to regulate child labor was adopted in 1919.Today, many people and
institutions are concerned about child labor.  The concern partly stems from the kind of work
children do. In its extreme forms, child labor, involves, children separated from their families,
exposed to serious hazards and illnesses or even left to feed for themselves- often, at very early
ages. Ethical issues, problem and dilemmas like this, therefore relates to situations, which
conflicts, moral claims. However child labor is a rather win-win situation, for both the company
and the children, considering their economy, and countries they come from, not only from a
utilitarian dimension but also, to some extent of Justice Principles, where the right to work of
the children is pointed out, provided they are also benefited from their basic rights such as
Education, like Nike has been providing. Also his difference Principle argues that the rights of

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minority should not be overlooked, and child labor is providing them with benefits guess it’s not
bad. For sure Kant and other normative philosophies state is good, i.e. exploitation of child and
child labor is wrong in nature, but in conditions of developing countries, and under developed
ones, if this allows them, to survive, we should make exceptions. However to solve this problem
it is stated that government of the country should come forward to help the poor families so
that child can study and use their time on study and at home. In this kind of situation
government should arrange different work for the families so that they can work and earn the
minimum amount of money to survive and all the companies should maintain labor law and
hire according to the system rules and regulation.

Judging its Morality

Before judging any morality of an issue people should at first understand the main theme of the
theories. There are very well known two theories discussed in this assignment Kantianism and
Utilitarianism ethics. In case of child labor people thinks in different ways some think that it is
morally right to work at early age and support family to fulfill the basic need to survive. People
support Utilitarianism in many different part of the world they believe child labor is useful as
they can work for long time and also paid well by which their family can live a better life. On the
other hand some people doesn’t support utilitarianism at all they believe at Kantianism, which
defines children should not work at all it’s a burden for them. At early age each and every
student should study, play and stay at home. Any kind of work load and pressure child should
not take at early age it is not morally right to use child labor at different companies, industries
and factories as a human resource. It’s against humanity which shows that the senior citizen of
the family is using the money earned by the child however it is totally not accepted.

In conclusion, whether or not hiring Child labor in developing country is an unethical act is
depends on the moral theory one holds. But generally, it is not being accepted by most of the
ethical theory. In the last it can be said that there is no economic compulsion forcing the child
into employment. Rather the child ‘keeps his wages and spends them on such peer group
“necessities” as the latest style jeans, records or, increasingly, videos and home computers. By
and large nobody forces him to go to work. “Work which does not take place under such
relatively idyllic conditions it is defined as having an element of economic compulsion
associated with it and, according to Fyfe, involves time and energy commitment which affects
children's ability to participate in leisure, play and educational activities. Finally, child labor is
“work which impairs the health and development of children”

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Reference
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