Introduction
Utilitarian ethics and Machiavelli ethics are two distinct approaches on human morality and ethics, which will be debated in this essay within an analysis of two articles focusing on the utilization of various forms of energy by employing more or less healthy and sustainable actions and techniques for extracting coal, natural gas or for producing renewable energy.
Body
Briefly, the main utilitarian principle states that there should be pursued the attaining of the greatest good, or the greatest happiness for the greatest amount of people (Graham, 2004). The ethics in this principle is reflected in the fact that it is intended to achieve the source of happiness that corresponds for the majority, therefore, a focus on the quantity is indicated it utilitarianism ethic, or, as Graham states, on “general happiness rather than social convenience” (2004, p. 129). As Stuart Mill (1871, in Graham , 2004, p. 132) enounced his Greatest Happiness Principle, “actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness”, morality (and ethics) is solely related to happiness something is ethical when the greatest amounts of actors are satisfied, happy with it, and unethical when most actors are unhappy with it.
The first article, “Risky Gas Drilling Threatens Health, Water Supplies” presents facts that are clearly against the utilitarian ethics. The article speaks about the drillings that expand across United States, generating air and water pollution as a result of the techniques employed for extracting natural gas, such as the hydraulic fracturing (fracking), which, as the article describes, implies the use of dangerous chemicals to be mixed with water and sand in large quantities for being injected into wells at high pressure, causing the pollution of potable water in many regions of the country, such as Arkansas, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming (“Risky Gas Drilling”).
Machiavelli ethics, on the other hand, focused on consequences, perceives actions as being moral if they pursue the purpose of achieving power. As for this, breaking a contract or the rules in the name of achieving power and control over the others is perfectly moral, because, as the philosopher considers, humans are by nature wicked, and they all tend to conquer and rule over the others and whoever gets there first has the greatest abilities to attaining and holding the power (Benner, 2009).
The facts described in the article “Risky Gas Drilling” fit perfectly into the Machiavelli ethics, as they elaborate on various companies engaged in extracting natural gas, which are playing sometimes against the rules that exist in this industry, using their political influence for satisfying their purposes. Therefore, just as Machiavelli conceptualized the human ethics, the drilling companies are pursuing their own interests in achieving power within the industry (by exploring more regions for the extraction of the natural gas and by using dangerous and even illegal techniques in the extraction processes), for obtaining a greater influence in the industry, more money, hence, control over the others.
The article “The Role of Natural gas in America’s Energy Mix” also discusses about the natural gas and the unsafe processes involved in extracting it. From an utilitarian perspective, the article is identifying the strategy to assure the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest amount of beneficiaries, as it discusses about how the natural gas, properly extracted and used, can help reduce the impact on human health, can help curb the climate change, can minimize the impact that transportation causes upon the environment and in general, can improve the living conditions. From the utilitarian perspective, the article follows the greatest happiness principle also because it talks about the renewable energy, which is based on sun and wind power for producing the energy, creating the most benefic type of energy for humans.
However, a slight shadow of Machiavelli ethics appears in the article, as it reflects at the comparison between natural energy and renewable energy, stating that while the power plants that burn natural gas produces less pollution than the coal – burning plants, the natural energy is still impacting the environment because of the way it is being extracted, but it is currently more utilized than the renewable energy because it is less costly than the renewable energy. This reflects the interests of the corporations that extract natural gas to continue to maintain their market share in the detriment of the renewable energy. From this perspective, this idea discussed in the article is against the utilitarian perspective and it is more applicable to Machiavelli ethic, as it disregards the interest of the majority, which is to have a clean environment and a healthy living by employing the most sustainable solution (the renewable energy) and it favors the interest of a few, focused on controlling the energy market through producing natural gas, which is not as sustainable as the renewable energy.
Conclusion
While people rely on energy, having access to it (as obtained from the coal plants or the power plants that burn natural oil) is paradoxically harmful for humankind and for the environment and in this case the greatest happiness utilitarian principle favors them as the greatest amount of people benefit of it, but in the same time it cannot be applied, as the source of their happiness (energy) is also the source of their unsustainable living conditions. The Machiavelli ethics works best here, as the corporatist interests of maintaining people hooked on energy generates control for a few enterprises over billions of people in need of energy. In the first article, the action presented is unethical from a utilitarian perspective, but ethical according to Machiavelli ethical principle, as it describes strategies to achieve power and control. The second article follows both utilitarian and Machiavelli ethics, as it presents actions meant to consolidate the good (happiness of the majority) by showing the benefits of the natural energy for various social aspects (transportation, healthier living, sustainable environment). At a careful examination, however, it also induces the idea that the natural energy competes with the renewable energy, which is the best type of energy for people and environment (the majority), indicating the interest of natural oil corporations to continue to maintain their market share in the detriment of renewable energy, which implies the intention to control and dominate, which is an ethical Machiavelli principle, but an unethical utilitarian principle.
References
Benner, E. (2009) Machiavelli’s ethics. New jersey, Princeton University Press.
Graham, G. (2004) Eight theories of ethics. London: Routledge.
Risky gas drilling threatens health, water supplies. (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.nrdc.org/energy/gasdrilling/.
The role of natural gas in America’s energy mix. (2012.) Retrieved from http://www.nrdc.org/energy/naturalgasenergymix.asp.
