ali reza vali asl; mohsen jahed; sahar kavandi
Volume 6, Issue 2 , March 2017, , Pages 171-196
Abstract
Conducted in the field of applied ethics,the present research deals with advertising in mediafrom the viewpoint of ethical utilitarianism. Manufacturing companies utilizeany,sometimes improper and unethical, tool or method to persuade their audience and advance their goals, namely to increase product ...
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Conducted in the field of applied ethics,the present research deals with advertising in mediafrom the viewpoint of ethical utilitarianism. Manufacturing companies utilizeany,sometimes improper and unethical, tool or method to persuade their audience and advance their goals, namely to increase product sales, which, intentionally or unintentionally,exert adverse effects onpeople. Advertising has prospered with the advances in technology and increases insurplus consumer goods, and today, hardly anyone around the world is unfamiliar with the concept of advertisement. The importance of advertising is clarified when one observes the effects of advertising on individuals by using the media, arts and the sciences, and the direction towards which it has driven the society. This paper employs a descriptive-analytical methodto explore commercial advertising and its effects on the audience of mass media, and relying on one of the famous theories of normative ethics in moral philosophy, i.e. the ethical utilitarianism, it seeks to answer the following questions: Based on the theory of utilitarianism, what types of advertisements shall media officials allow to be broadcast? What is the ruling of utilitarians about resorting to any form of fraud and deception in advertising? According to utilitarianism, what are appropriate advertisement criteria? What kind of advertising is permitted or unpermitted?
