Assignment 02.docx

Assignment 02: Student Name:

Mantime Phyllistus Maserumule

Student Number:

46600329

Step 1: 1.

State your proposed act as a maxim: “I will take ZAR 620 000 000.00 (A) when I’ve done a year’s work (C) in order to get really, really rich (E).”

1.

Restate this maxim as a universal law; “All people (7 billion of them) will take ZAR 620 000 000.00 when they’ve done a year’s work in order to get really, really rich.”

1.

Ask whether your maxim is conceivable in a world ruled by the universal law; and finally If all the people are to earn ZAR 620 000 000.00 when they’ve done a year’s work in order to get really, really rich. Everyone would eventually retire and who would do service to another. This maxim is not conceivable in a world ruled by the universal law.

1.

Ask whether you would rationally act on your maxim in such a world. I will not act on the maxim in such a world, because it is morally wrong.According to Kant, a failure at Step 3 would result in perfect duty to refrain from acting on the maxim.

Step 2: Form an opinion

If everyone would to get really, really rich, everyone would at some point retire and who would work and do service, who would serve another.People would start worshipping their money, people would not have a drive or desire to work in order to achieve their desired goals that which at the end brings happiness, fulfilment and success as a result.

Assignment 2 Student Name: Iris Anderson Student Number: 56215576

1. State your proposed act as a maxim: "I will take ZAR 620 000 000.00 (A) when I've done a year's work (C) in order to get really, really rich (E)." 2. Restate this maxim as a universal law; "All people (7 billion of them) will take ZAR 620 000 000.00 when they've done a year's work in order to get really, really rich." 3. Ask whether your maxim is conceivable in a world ruled by the universal law; and finally : If everyone took R 620 000 000.00 for a years work , anybody who has worked for a year will have equal amounts of money - therefore you will no longer be richer than anyone else who has worked for a year. 4. Ask whether you would rationally act on your maxim in such a world. No I would not , the drive to work hard for longer than a year will no longer exist, and if everyone who worked for a year got R 620 000 000.00 you would no longer be rich as everyone would be equal. That amount of money would lose its value if everyone earned the same, as people would increase the cost of the goods produced and services procured due to there being more money available. If everyone earned the same amount the cost of living would increase with the inflation, caused by the increased cost of goods and services . Those who did not work or worked less than a year would not be able to afford the cost of living. What would Kant probably have said about Whitey Basson (or you) earning ZAR 620,000,000.00? (You might want to do a bit of research into the nature of Whitey Basson's 2010 earnings). R 620,000,000 is a vast amount of money to earn in a year, and contrasting this against the salary of an employee working as a cashier at Shoprite (R 2 628 per month) (source https://www.indeed.co.za/salaries/CashierSalaries) you can see a large disparity in earnings. One could say this morally unethical and socially irresponsible, however using Kant's Categorical Imperative - you agree to work for somebody as means to an end - the staff at Shoprite agreed to work for this salary, and according to Kant everybody has the freedom of choice to work or not. Whitey Basson did not steal this money from the staff and he did not lie to get this money paid to him - which according to Kant's Laws of the Categorical Imperative, and Kant's logical theorem Whitey Basson did not do anything wrong.

What do you think about Whitey Basson (or you) earning ZAR 620,000,000.00? I think it is wrong. Why do you think this? Knowing that a cashier at Shoprite gets paid so little, I think it's wrong that there is such a contrast in salary between Whitey Basson's salary and a cashier, as the cashier will struggle to afford basic living expenses. I think that Whitey Basson could earn that salary for a years work if the cashiers where earing a living wage that coverd their expenses

Assignment 2 Student Name: Reena Lewis Student Number: 41702417

1. State your proposed act as a maxim: "I will take ZAR 620 000 000.00 (A) when I've done a year's work (C) in order to get really, really rich (E)." 2. Restate this maxim as a universal law; "All people (7 billion of them) will take ZAR 620 000 000.00 when they've done a year's work in order to get really, really rich." 3. Ask whether your maxim is conceivable in a world ruled by the universal law; and finally

This is not feasible in a world ruled by Kant’s universal law. If everyone worked for the year and earned R620 000 000.00 to get rich there won’t be enough resources to meet the needs or demands of all 7 billion people. 4. Ask whether you would rationally act on your maxim in such a world.

I certainly would not act on maxim in such a world as it will not be doing the right thing or morally right.

Step 2: Form an opinion On the basis of your analysis, answer the following questions:



What would Kant probably have said about Whitey Basson (or you) earning ZAR 620,000,000.00? (You might want to do a bit of research into the nature of Whitey Basson's 2010 earnings).

Kant would consider this as being immoral, due to the fact that Basson earned as much as 725 times his workers average salary (source https://businesstech.co.za/news/general/59173/south-africas-massivewage-gap/). For all the deantology moral philosophers would agree that the Categorical Imparitive of the "Formula of universal law" will be applied.



What do you think about Whitey Basson (or you) earning ZAR 620,000,000.00? Talk about the success he achieved

Whitney Basson was successfully in his position, he grew the business from a small eight- store chain with a value of R1m to a globally respected retailer with a market capitalisation of R114bn and over 140 000 employees today (source https://www.fin24.com/Companies/Retail/breaking-whitey-basson-to-retire-asshoprite-ceo-20161031). Jobs were created due to the expansion of his store. I personally believe if you work hard enough then you will reap the rewards. Yes there are employee who earns way less than him life is tough and very unfair and some come from very disadvantaged backgrounds but we are all trying and working hard to get to where we want to be. As an example, Shoprite’s Whitey Basson earns 725 times more than the average employee – but his salary is only 1.52% of total salaries paid, and 0.13% of the group’s total operating expenses. – (source https://businesstech.co.za/news/general/59173/south-africasmassive-wage-gap/)

I personally can’t imagine myself earning that amount of money in one year but if I did I would also want to give back to the communities and also create more jobs and which in turn will also help recover the damage that was done to the economy.



Why do you think this?

Hard work and sacrifice pay off I believe you will get out what you put in and therefore Basson’s earning was well deserved

Assignment 2 Student Name: Jay Purshttom Bhoora Student Number: 63113635

1. State your proposed act as a maxim: "I will take ZAR 620 000 000.00 (A) when I've done a year's work (C) in order to get really, really rich (E)." 2. Restate this maxim as a universal law; "All people (7 billion of them) will take ZAR 620 000 000.00 when they've done a year's work in order to get really, really rich." 3. Ask whether your maxim is conceivable in a world ruled by the universal law; and finally In my opinion, whilst the above maxim sounds incredible, it is not conceivable in a world ruled by Kant’s universal law for a number of reasons. One of those reasons is based on the world population of an estimated 7 billion. It is not feasible for 7 billion people to earn R620 000 000.00 each based on the worlds available money. [1] (businessinsider.com)

If all the people are to earn ZAR 620 000 000.00 when they’ve done a year’s work in order to get really, really rich. Everyone would eventually retire and who would do service to another. This maxim is not conceivable in a world ruled by the universal law. If everyone took R 620 000 000.00 for a years work , anybody who has worked for a year will have equal amounts of money - therefore you will no longer be richer than anyone else who has worked for a year. This is not feasible in a world ruled by Kant’s universal law. If everyone worked for the year and earned R620 000 000.00 to get rich there won’t be enough resources to meet the needs or demands of all 7 billion people.

4. Ask whether you would rationally act on your maxim in such a world.

If such a world was ruled by universal law, then would I even have the opportunity to take the offer? As I have determined above, it did not pass Kant’s categorical imperative steps meaning it would not be applicable universally. However If for the purposes of this question it had and assuming that the opportunity on offer was legal and moral I would act on it but not from a selfish perspective. I would ensure that I used a large portion of those earnings to give back to communities in need. I believe that regardless of how one has rightfully earned such a large sum of money, that no one individual would need it more than those without.

will not act on the maxim in such a world, because it is morally wrong.According to Kant, a failure at Step 3 would result in perfect duty to refrain from acting on the maxim. No I would not , the drive to work hard for longer than a year will no longer exist, and if everyone who worked for a year got R 620 000 000.00 you would no longer be rich as everyone would be equal I certainly would not act on maxim in such a world as it will not be doing the right thing or morally right.

Step 2: Form an opinion On the basis of your analysis, answer the following questions:



What would Kant probably have said about Whitey Basson (or you) earning ZAR 620,000,000.00? (You might want to do a bit of research into the nature of Whitey Basson's 2010 earnings). a.

b.

c.



Kant would consider this as being immoral, due to the fact that Basson earned as much as 725 times his workers average salary (source https://businesstech.co.za/news/general/59173/southafricas-massive-wage-gap/). For all the deantology moral philosophers would agree that the Categorical Imparitive of the "Formula of universal law" will be applied. R 620,000,000 is a vast amount of money to earn in a year, and contrasting this against the salary of an employee working as a cashier at Shoprite (R 2 628 per month) (source https://www.indeed.co.za/salaries/Cashier-Salaries) you can see a large disparity in earnings. f Kant was a true deontologist who went as far as generating the formulae such as the universal law, he obviously believed in it passionately. [6] (Unisa Study material) As a result I believe that he would have applied the categorical imperative using the universal law formulary. As per our previous application of the law, it did not meet all four steps therefore he would have concluded that his finding indicated a “perfect duty to refrain from acting on this maxim” and as a result that Whitey Basson’s earning where considered immoral. [7] (Unisa Study material)

What do you think about Whitey Basson (or you) earning ZAR 620,000,000.00? Talk about the success he achieved a.

Whitney Basson was successfully in his position, he grew the business from a small eight- store chain with a value of R1m to a globally respected retailer with a market capitalisation of R114bn and over 140 000 employees today (source https://www.fin24.com/Companies/Retail/breakingwhitey-basson-to-retire-as-shoprite-ceo-20161031). Jobs were created due to the expansion of his store. I personally believe if you work hard enough then you will reap the rewards. Yes there are employee who earns way less than him life is tough and very unfair and some come from very disadvantaged backgrounds but we are all trying and working hard to get to where we want to be. As an example, Shoprite’s Whitey Basson earns 725 times more than the average employee – but his salary is only 1.52% of total salaries paid, and 0.13% of the group’s total operating expenses. – (source https://businesstech.co.za/news/general/59173/south-africas-massive-wagegap/)

I personally can’t imagine myself earning that amount of money in one year but if I did I would also want to give back to the communities and also create more jobs and which in turn will also help recover the damage that was done to the economy. b.

Generally I struggle with the thought of one person earning such a large sum of money especially when there are so many people who can barely survive off of a small salary or who are unemployed. However, after much thought and research I do not disagree with Mr. Basson’s earnings.



Why do you think this?

Hard work and sacrifice pay off I believe you will get out what you put in and therefore Basson’s earning was well deserved.

a. b.

c.

Hard work and sacrifice pay off I believe you will get out what you put in and therefore Basson’s earning was well deserved. Knowing that a cashier at Shoprite gets paid so little, I think it's wrong that there is such a contrast in salary between Whitey Basson's salary and a cashier, as the cashier will struggle to afford basic living expenses. I think that Whitey Basson could earn that salary for a years work if the cashiers where earing a living wage that coverd their expenses . Mr. Basson achieved success in his position as CEO. Not everyone is qualified to perform such a task. He however, was qualified and worked hard at growing the business into the large success which it is today. He therefore is deserving of the earnings. If we think to compare the size of the payment to that of the employees we may feel that it is unjust. However Mr. Basson’s hard work resulted in job opportunities for 138 000 employees. This resulted in salaries which improved the lives of 138 000 people and their families as opposed to poverty should they have lost their jobs if Mr. Basson was unsuccessful in his role. [8] (News24). Mr. Basson’s job was to make a success of the business and not solve our countries unemployment levels, yet he managed to make a success of the task given to him whilst still working towards the social good. Which indicates to me that he was working with business ethics in mind as per the guidelines mentioned in our study material “Businesses ought to look after SHAREHOLDER interests.” and “businesses ought to consider the interests of broader stakeholders because it is just the right thing to do in terms of society as a whole.” [9] (Unisa study material). I therefore conclude that Mr Basson was deserving of his earnings.

d. I therefore conclude that I think Kant would agree with my opinion that it was not done right in the right way and that universally it is not conceivable. And considering that the rule fails at step 3, it is a perfect duty to refrain from acting on this maxim.