Epicureanist Pleasure, Hedonism and Good Life

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Introduction

Happiness and Good Life in Epicureanism

Epicureanism A General Glance

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A Deeper Look

Bibliography 1

Introduction

The Hellenistic Age was a period of dislocation, a senselessness of the public order having resulted from the conquest of Greece by Alexander The Great who thus took over all the Greek ctiy-states and in a sense made their citizens alienated from their native societies. From this moment onwards many attempts were done to place the individual in a sensible role in the world that philosophies of self-sufficiency were some of the most significant ones. It was Cynicism, Epicureanism and Gnostic Religions which defended this self-sufficiency notion for all of them suggested to an extent a withdrawal from the community and reach self-sufficiency. Among them, I've found interesting to study Epicureanism since they are thought to have contributed the materialism of our age, being mostly favoured. Yet, it has been subject to lots of misreadings and distortions that it has often been perceived as becoming slaves of our passions. Nevertheless, it is worth to take a look at Epicirus and his teachings to see what morality they recommended.

Happiness and Good Life in Epicureanism

Epicureanism A General Glance

Before starting the analysis of our core concepts, I think a brief summary of Epicureanism will be helpful to understand further arguments. First of all, this philosophy is greatly influenced by the materialism of Democritus who suggested an atomistic theory for the basis of everything. All we see consist of homogenous atoms whose motions on the senses create the qualities of things. Such a point of view has further implacations that when employed to human nature, that materialism considers human beings formed by a collection of physical sensations. Thus, there is no soul, but just our bodies and our minds. Moreover, this body of our is engaged in a constant exchange of motion with its environment and that the wise and happy man according to Epicurus is the one who is capable of directing this relationship in a way that he/she perceives pleasure the most. Therefore, we see in the centre of his theory the concept of pleasure, seeking for it in the form of hedonism and thus through this process, reaching happiness and good life. Yet, his conceptualization of these terms are a bit different than that of we perceive today.

A Deeper Look

Like every philosophy tries to do, Epicurean ethics puts forward the necessary steps to be taken in order to live a happy life. However, what distinguish them is their fundemental unit guiding to the good life. In turn, what Epicurus considers the main unit of happiness is the concept of pleasure.

Actually, Epicurus wasn't the first hedonist, for we may refer to Aristippus who suggested a different pleasant life than that of Epicurus. While the former considers the absence of pain as an intermediate condition, Epicurus, as I am going to deal with closer in following sections, equated teh removal of pain with pleasure and that there was no such intermediate between them. In fact this assumption is one of the central arguments of distinct Epicurus' hedonism.

Later, the concept of pleasure was examined by both Plato and Aristotle. Yet, there is a clear distinction between on one hand Plato and Arsitotle and on the other Epicurus. Such a difference can be portrayed in terms of the relationship they offer between happiness and pleasure. Although all of them deal with the necessary conditions for the provision of happiness, only Epicurus identifies happiness with a pleasant life. Despite such a distinction, they have something in common, especially Arsitotle and Epicurus happiness is the final end of action. It is something that other things are chosen for its sake and it can't be chosen for the sake of anything else. "... which is always desirable in itself and never for the sake of something else" Whenever we act, we try to gain a surplus of pleasure and our action is successful provided that it aims at happiness. To Aristotle, happiness is achieved by being engaged in some intellectual activities nad having some virtues which are "intrinsically valuable and thus the components of happiness" Yet, a clear difference is still obvious that for Plato and Aristotle, some pleasures are good and contribute to happiness while some are bad. On the other hand, Epicurus denies such a situation and accounts the pleasure as being good since the good means what causes pleasure. Therefore, he takes pleasure as something intrinsically valuable. While Aristotle and Plato think it is through virtues that the human excellence is what produces happiness, the hedonist equates it with pleasure "We begin every act of choice and avoidance from pleasure and it is to pleasure that we return using our experience of pleasure as the criterion of every good thing."

Furthermore, the goodness of pleasure doesn't need any proof that the cradle argument should be taken into consideration in this sense. It means Epicurus' taking happiness as a fact that all living creatures seek for and avoid pain, the latter meaning perceiving pleasure. "It rests on a conclusion supplied by nature herself and is the ground and basis of all our doing and not doing." The main point in this argument that the pain is bad and pleasure is good. What is more, the case needs no proof since it is evident in their perception. Such matters are sensed just like we do the heat of fire or sweetness of sugar, meaning they are never theorises. Therefore, I guess, Epicurus would never be in pains of doing so, since avoiding pain is pleasure.

"Men pursue pleasure that it is what they ought to pursue." We are sort of genetically programmed to seek what produces pleasure and to avoid what causes pain. According to Epicurus, probably no living creature can have any other goals since such a state will lead directlt to the good and happy life.

Having adopted the natural goodness of pleasure, we may now go on with a deeper analysis of the concept of pleasure and its relevance to hedonism, happy and good life.

"Since pleasure is the good which is primary and innate ,we don't chose every pleasure, but there are times when we pass over many pleasures of greater pain in their consequence for us. And we regard many pains as superior to pleasures when a greater pleasure arises for us after we have put with pains over a long time. Therefore, although every pleasure on account of its natural affinity to us is good, not every pleasure is to be chosen; similarly, though every pain is bad, not every pain is always to be avoided. It is proper to evaluate these things by a calculation and consideration of advantages and disadvantages. For sometimes we treat the good as bad and conversely the bad as good."

Most probably, this paragraph of Epicurus is the one explaining his distinct hedonism and pleasure-oriented philosophy in the most proper manner. Yet, there are more than just meets the eye if we do a reading of between lines. One of the most important feature of his hedonism, as mentioned above, is his refusal of any intermediate between pleasure and pain. They are related to each other in the sense that they are contradictories. Pleasure is in fact the logical opposite of pain, meaning nonpain or generally speaking, the absence of pain in mind and body the physical comfort or well-being of mind. The absence of one brings about the presence of the other. The real aim of all pleasure is thus obtaining freedom from pain, "the emancipation from evil." Therefore, as far as pleasure is concerned, we had better be saying that Epicurus employed a negative meaning of the concept. Furthermore, in physical terms, the pleasure is the result of the appropriate movement of atoms in the body. If such an harmony is distorted, pain comes to existence. Thus, pain can be thought as the disturbance of our natural constitution. "Pleasure is perceived when atoms are restored to their appropriate position within the body."

Yet, more things have to be said about the Epicurean pleasure. When we call it, we don't mean the pleasures of gratification neither the pleasures of the body, of the flesh, nor the sensual enjoyments as excitment, competition, money, prestige, etc... This is one of the most striking features of Epicurean theory that such an argument totally contrasts with our time's lifestyle which underlines those values. Then, isn't is odd to blame Epicureanism for being a slave of passion while it deemphasizes them?

"So, when we say that pleasure is the end of action, we don't mean the pleasures pf the dissipated and those that consist in having a good time, rather we mean the freedom from pain in the body and from disturbance in the mind. The pleasant life isn't the product of drinking party after another or of sexual intercourse with women and boys or of the sea food and other delicacies afforded by a luxurious table."

We may infer from this paragraph that Epicurus' ideal is far from what we mean by a pleasant life today. We furher understand that he employs a clear distinction within pleasure positive and negative or in other words kinetic and static pleasure. He undermined the importance of the former while emphasizing the latter in the route to happiness.

"The kinetic pleasures are composed of a process of removing pain which results in pleasurable sensations." For example, suppose that a man is hungry. He will naturally desire to eat and that satistfying this desire produces kinetic pleasure. However, to satisfy completely the desire for food just puts off the hunger to a later time. From the complete satisfaction of desire, in turn, Epicurus introduces the static pleasure. What is significant in this kind of pleasure is there is the comlplete absence of pain and enjoymant of this condition.

"The pleasure which we pursue isn't merely that which excites our nature by some gratification and which is felt with delight by the senses. We regard that as the greatest pleasure which is felt when all pain has been removed." What Ciceor describes here is nothing but solely the static pleasure.

Therefore, the complete satisfaction of desire is the static pleasure. Our needs lead us to desires which mean perceiving pain because of lacking something. In order to remove this pain and thus reach pleasure, desire has to be satisfied and this process is pleasurable. "Thus, the kinetic pleasure is a necessary condition of at least some static pleasure, but it isn't regarded by Epicurus as equivalent in value to static pleasure." If freedom from pain is the greatest pleasure, then we should satisfy our desires not for the sake of the pleasurable sensations as drinking or eating, but for the sake of the well-being of mind which emerges when all pain has been removed.

The significance of the distinction between kinetic and static pleasure is that it helps to show the identification of happiness wtih pleasure as mentioned before, in De Finibus, it is argued that the greatest pleasure isn't any kind of gratification, but it is what is perceived when all the pain has been removed. "For when we are freed from pain, we rejoice in the actual freedom and absence of all distress." Pleasure is thus the necessary consequence of pain's removal.

Epicurus doesn't deny kinetic pleasures are sources of pleasure. Rather, those pleasures are rejected to form a stable avoidance of pain in body and mind. This isn't not because he denies they are good, but they are the wrong kind of pleasure to be thought as the final end of action, it it the freedom from pain which is the final end. In fact, this is the motto of Epicurean philosophy. Being happy is directly identified with the state of aponia and ataraxia, meaning freedom from bodily adn mental pains. This is further provided by the perception of static pleasures. These two states together form happiness. The main point in Epicurean hedonism is that the state of the body isn't very important and this is reinforced by the humiliation of positive pleasures. Rather, the state of mind is of great importance since bodily pleasures are of short duration while "mental enjoyments are incorruptible." Actually, for the same reason, mental pains are more severe than those of the body because the body suffers from only present pains whereas the mind feels those of the past and the future. Being incorruptible, it is the satisfaction of our mental pleasures as aponia and ataraxia, which would supply us with a process culminating in happiness.

Because Epicurus argues the greatest pain is the mental disturbance, he also introduces some enemies causing a disturbance in the name of the fear of gods, fear of death and fear of torments of hell. "Before one can enjoy the fruits of living, one must free oneself of certain crippling liabilities." Both Epicurus an Lucreitus try to show that such liabilities were groundless on the basis of the atomic theory. The first fear, fear of gods is groundless since even if gods existed, they don't intervene to the human world. The fear of death is also futile because there is no soul, just a body and mind, thus the death just means the termination of the exchange of motion. Moreover, the torment of hell doesn't exist since there is no afterlife because there is no soul, even if it existed, it would be mortal. Yet, the fear of death is in turn the main cause for many human vices as greed, murder, envy, etc... "The blind avarice and lust for office are fed byt the dread of death. In order not to fall into poor ills, men are driven by the spurious fear to inflate their means through civic strife and to compound murder with murder whilst they avidly triple their wealth... This fear plagues their self-respect, ruptures the bonds of affection."

Consequently, to sum up, Epicurus' hedonism should exhibit such qualities The miniziming of all pains of living including those three big fears, the maximizing of "inner peace and serenity " and well being of mind. Moreover, in order to judge whether an act is moral or immoral, our criterion shouldn't be the act itself, nor rules of any behaviour, but according to the experience it causes, meaning its long-term consequences. It was in fact on this basis Epicurus developed its theory of not every pleasure is desirable and not every pain is rejected, since their consequences may lead us to greater pleasures or pains. "Any pleasure... which fails to remove the greatest pain is ruled out as an ultimate object of choice by this rule absence of pain determines the magnitude of pain... A man may enjoy an evening's drinking or the thrill of betting, but the pleasure which he derives from satisfying his desires for drink and gambling must be set against the feeling of the morning after the anxiety of losing money"

Furthermore, Epicurus' hedonism is a limited and moderate one in the sense that whenever one isn't experiencing pain or distress, one will be in a state of pleasure and such a situation can't be made more pleasurable. The comlpete absence of pain determines the limit of the greatest pleasure and from this degree on, it can be varied, but not increased. Therefore, a combination of aponia and ataraxia provides one to be in a state of pleasure that can't be improved. This is where the life can't get better. Thus, there is a line boyond which pleasure can't be expanded. As far as gratification is concerned, the limit is when the pain is removed. However, such a boundary requires an intellectual process since the body recognizes no limits of pleasure. For there is no intermediate between pleasure and pain, as long as one isn't in pain or distress, then one is in the state of pleasure which can't be improved by any addition of kinetic pleasures.

Therefore, a simple life is recommended by Epicurus because its needs and desires are just simple. In order to provide happiness for his argument, he introduces a further classification of desires into three classes

1. Natural and necessary

. Natural but not necessary

. Neither natural nor necessary

The first category consists of the desires for the things which bring relief from pain. These desires' satisfaction are necessary if one wishes to reach happiness. Yet, moreover, they are further required for the health and equilibrium of the body and of the life. Such disres are based on knowing how we refer to choice and avoidance to the health of the body and freedom from mental disturbance. The main point is its removal is to live happy. Their final form can be found in a state of aponia and ataraxia.

The second class are the desires for things which will vary pleasure rather than remove pain. The distinction between the fisrt and the second categories can be illustrated as follows we may be at the needs of food for survival. However, it is up to us to eat food or to eat expensive food, while the former is necessary and natural, the latter isn't a necessary desire, but just a verison of it. For it isn't necessary for one's survival.

The third division are the desires for the things as"crowns or erection of states" . They are originated in false beliefs acquired through false perceiption of the truth. Thus, they arise from "empty belief."

Consequently, having described the qualities of Epicurean hedonism and the concept of happiness through pleasure, we may now sum them up to a description of the good life. According to Epicurus, a good life is the one involving disciplining the appetites, curtailement of desires and needs to the possible minimum for the healthy living. Moreover, the detachment from the most favoured goals of society and a withdrawal from the active participation in the life of the society. What is prescribed, in turn, is to retreat to the company of our friends and living a world of non-worldy, intellectual life as contemplation.

Such a lifestyle was that of Epicurus. First, he withdrew from active participation in the life of the society and secluded himself with friends in a "walled Garden" . Second, he lived a simple life, an easy one to satisfy, especially in terms of diet. He ate no meat, drank no wine. Third, he spent his time to unworldy concerns as study and contemplation. Fourth, he didn't engage himself in sexual intercourse, which he thinks the most painful pleasure, thus had better be avoided. He suggests that, as he did in his life, a rational calculation of pleasure-pain relationship is vital. For instance, if one can judge that six beers will bring about a serious hangover, it will be wise to take only three. Thus by analyzing its long-term consequences, pleasures or pains should be preferred with a great care. A choice between a luxurious diet and a simple pne or a life of contemplation and life of politics must be an easy one, being in favor or simplicity and intellectual activity since they offer minimum pain, then greatest pleasure.

Lastly, the position of old goods of Greek philosophy like prudence, justice, moderation, courage or virtue should be examined from the Epicurean perspective. Since the pleasure is the olny good thing, all those other values are of secondary importance for they may be called as means of happiness, not as ends. For example moderation is required because it provides well-being of mind by allowing us to choose simple desires of the simple life. Similarly, courage offers us to live without anxiety, which may harm ataraxia. Actually, Epicurus considered such values as inseparable with happiness since they may serve as means to achieve it. The relationship between virtue and pleasure is of great significance that Epicureanism emphasizes its importance by saying that pleasure requires a reasoned activity of the advantages and disadvantages of an action. Thus, virtue can't be evaluated in the sense it has in pre-Epicurean philosophers who suggested virtue benefits whole society. Yet, such a view isn't valid in our inquiry for it is at his core individualistic, a situation apparent in its name self-sufficiency philosophy.

Therefore to employ virtue for its own sake is nothing but imagination to Epicurus' opinion. Pleasure and happiness are the only objective of our actions and all other things are taken up for their sake. Virtue by itself means nothing in pleasurable terms, yet when it leads the way to pleasure, it becomes loaded with meaning. Its specific task is to free individuals from the worries and fears of the world, which all carry the potential to generate a mental disturbance. Virtue helps us in subordianting our worldy passions to avoidance of pain, in living a simple life, in achieving self-control and sufficiency. Thus, Epicurean virtue is never an end by itself. However, it is closey realted to pleasure as being a means to it. The wisest man in fact is the one being capable of directing his desires and life in the proper way to maximise his/her pleasure. To sum up, it serves to reach complete freedom of mental pain.

Finally, if Epicurean ethics suggested such a positive way of living, a one of simplicity and happiness, why is it always badly approached in our age? The answer is obvious for there were Epicureans and Epicureans "sectarians suggesting a secluded life and Epicureans in the world." The second group is who distorted Epicureanism since they always sought for the maximisation of positive pleasures. Yet the main point is that, "where ideals are too light and austere, they are bound to be dilluted and corrupted by that coarse breed, man-in-the-world." It was this move from negative pleasures to positive pleasures which discredited Epicureanism in time and turned it into a slavery of passions. This can be also valid for Christianity that in some cases, it has been misinterpreted and distorted. "In each case the pearl of great price has been trampled by the herd."

Bibliography

§ Everson, Stephen. History of Philosophy From Aristotle to Augustine Vol., Edited by David Furley, Routlegde Press, New York,1

§ Lung, A.A. Hellenistic Philosophy Stoics, Epicureans, Sceptics, Second Edition, Edited by Hugh Lloyd Jones, Gerald Duckworth-company Limited Press, London, 180

§ Striker, Gisele. Essays on Hellenistic Epistemology and Ethics, Cambridge Press, USA, 16

§ Strodach, George K. Philosophy of Epicureans, Books on Demand, Northwestern University Press, USA, 16

§ Zeller, E. Stoics, Epicureans, Sceptics pt., Books on Demand, Bell&Howell Company, Michigan, 18

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Drug Testing and the Right to Privacy

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Privacy in America Workplace Drug Testing

December 1, 17

Today, in some industries, taking a drug test is as routine as filling out a job application. In fact, workplace drug testing is up 77 percent from 187; despite the fact that random drug testing is unfair, often inaccurate and unproven as a means of stopping drug use.

But because there are few laws protecting our privacy in the workplace, millions of American workers are tested yearly, even though they arent suspected of drug use.

Buy custom Drug Testing and the Right to Privacy term paper

As a soldier in the United States Army, I am subjected to random drug testing on a constant basis. I know first hand how degrading and uncomfortable it is to have a junior ranking employee observe you 100% while doing one of the most personal body functions we do. However, random drug testing does not discriminate against anyone in the U.S. Army.

Employers have the right to expect workers not to be high or drunk on the job. But they shouldnt have the right to require employees to prove their innocence by taking a drug test. I strongly support pre-employment and pre-enlistment drug testing as a means for qualifying an individual for a position. However, unless an employer as valid suspicions, i.e., injury, excessive absenteeism, or first hand knowledge, I do not believe in random drug testing. It is not right for individuals with unblemished work records to be taken away from their duties to be humiliated and forced to urinate in a cup with a "licensed" observer.

Thats not how America should work.

INVASION AND ERROR

Routine drug tests are intrusive. Often, another person is there to observe the employee to ensure there is no specimen tampering. Even indirect observation can be degrading; typically, workers must remove their outer garments and urinate in a bathroom in which the water supply has been turned off.

The lab procedure is a second invasion of privacy. Urinalysis reveals not only the presence of illegal drugs, but also the existence of many other physical and medical conditions, including genetic predisposition to disease, or pregnancy. In 188, the Washington, D.C. Police Department admitted it used urine samples collected for drug tests to screen female employees for pregnancy without their knowledge or consent.

Furthermore, human error in the lab, or the tests failure to distinguish between legal and illegal substances, can make even a small margin of error add up to a huge potential for false positive results. In 1, an estimated million tests were administered. If five percent yielded false positive results (a conservative estimate of false positive rates) then 1.1 million people could have been fired, or denied jobs because of a mistake.

I waited for the attendant to turn her back before pulling down my pants, but she told me she had to watch everything I did. I am a 40-year-old mother of three nothing I have ever done in my life equals or deserves the humiliation, degradation and mortification I felt. From a letter to the ACLU describing a workplace drug test.

TESTS THAT FAIL

Claims of billions of dollars lost in employee productivity are based on guesswork, not real evidence. Drug abuse in the workplace affects a relatively small percentage of workers. A 14 National Academy of Sciences report found workplace drug use ranges from a modest to a moderate extent, and noted that much of reported drug use may be single incident, perhaps even at events like office parties.

Furthermore, drug tests are not work-related because they do not measure on-the-job impairment. A positive drug test only reveals that a drug was ingested at some time in the past. Nor do they distinguish between occasional and habitual use.

Drug testing is designed to detect and punish conduct that is usually engaged in off-duty and off the employers premises, that is, in private. Employers who conduct random drug tests on workers who are not suspected of using drugs are policing private behavior that has no impact on job performance.

FAR FROM FOOLPROOF Sometimes drug tests fail to distinguish between legal and illegal substances. Depronil, a prescription drug used to treat Parkinsons disease, has shown up as an amphetamine on standard drug tests. Over-the-counter anti-inflammatory drugs like Ibuprofen have shown up positive on the marijuana test. Even the poppy seeds found in baked goods can produce a positive result for heroin.

ABOUT SAFETY-SENSITIVE OCCUPATIONS

Alertness and sobriety are, of course, imperative for certain occupations, such as train engineers, airline pilots, truck drivers and others. Yet even in these jobs, random drug testing does not guarantee safety. First, drug-related employee impairment in safety-sensitive jobs is rare. There has never been a commercial airline accident linked to pilot drug use. And even after a 14 Amtrak accident in which several lives were lost, investigators discovered the train engineer had a well-known history of alcohol, not drug, abuse.

Computer-assisted performance tests, which measure hand-eye coordination and response time, are a better way of detecting whether employees are up to the job. NASA, for example, has long used task-performance tests to determine whether astronauts and pilots are unfit for work whether the cause is substance abuse, fatigue, or physical illness.

Drug tests dont prevent accidents because they dont address the root problems that lead to substance abuse. But good management and counseling can. Employee assistance programs (EAPs) help people facing emotional, health, financial or substance abuse problems that can affect job performance. EAP counselors decide what type of help is needed staff support, inpatient treatment, AA meetings, and the like. In this context, the goal is rehabilitation and wellness not punishment.

At the Army Reserve Personnel Command in Saint Louis, MO, there is a Employee Substance Assistance Program (ESAP) designed to assist the civilian employees. However, the civilian employees are not subjected to the random drug tests. Only the military personnel who work side-by-side with these civilian employees are tested. In fact, there have been several civilian government employees at this same location who have been arrested and jailed for non-work related drug charges, and yet they return to work with out consequences.

Employers need to kick the drug test habit.

SOURCES American Management Association survey, Workplace Drug Testing and Drug Abuse Policies; R. DeCresce, Drug Testing in the Workplace (BNA, 18); Under the Influence? Drugs and the American Workforce, National Academy of Sciences, 14; J.P. Morgan, The Scientific Justification for Urine Drug Testing, University of Kansas L.R., 188.

WHAT THE ACLU IS DOING

Privacy the right to be left alone is one of our most cherished rights. Yet because so few laws protect our privacy, the American Civil Liberty Unions (ACLU) campaign for privacy in the workplace is very important, particularly in the private sector.

The ACLU is working in the states to help enact legislation to protect workplace privacy rights. They have created a model statute regulating workplace drug testing. In 16 the ACLU launched a public education campaign to help individuals across the nation become aware of the need for increased workplace privacy rights.

Much more work remains to be done. As of mid 17, only a handful of states ban testing that is not based on individual suspicion Montana, Iowa, Vermont, and Rhode Island. Minnesota, Maine and Connecticut permit not-for-cause testing, but only of employees in safety-sensitive positions. These laws also require confirmation testing, lab certification and test result confidentiality.

Hawaii, Louisiana, Maryland, Nebraska, Oregon and Utah regulate drug testing in some fashion; Florida and Kansas protect government employee rights, but not those of private sector workers. Only in California, Massachusetts and New Jersey have the highest courts ruled out some forms of drug testing on state constitutional or statutory grounds.

May 1, 00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NEW YORK Citing the first-ever large-scale national study confirming that school drug testing fails to curb student drug use, the American Civil Liberties Union today called on schools to heed these important new findings and end drug testing programs.

In light of these findings, schools should be hard-pressed to implement or continue a policy that is intrusive and even insulting for their students, especially when drug testing fails to deter student drug use, said Graham Boyd, Director of the ACLU Drug Policy Litigation Project.

While school drug testing has recently become a huge topic of debate in the courts, in schools, and among the general public, there has not, until now, been any conclusive research on whether drug testing is effective in addressing student drug use and how widespread testing is in schools. This federally funded study answers both of these questions.

The study, published last month in the Journal of School Health, a peer-reviewed publication of the American School Health Association, found no statistical difference regarding rates of drug use between schools that implemented drug testing policies and those that had not. Analyzing data collected between 18 and 001 from 76,000 students in 8th, 10th and 1th grades, the study found that drug testing of any kind was not a significant predictor of marijuana or other illicit drug use by students, including athletes.

The United States Supreme Court, which allowed random school drug testing twice for athletes and students in competitive, extra-curricular activities, both times relied on the premise that drug testing plays an important role in deterring drug use. Obviously, the Justices did not have the benefit of this study, said Boyd, who last year argued against an Oklahoma school drug testing policy in a Supreme Court challenge. But schools do, and we urge them to heed these results.

The study concludes that drug testing in schools may not provide a panacea for reducing student drug use that some (including some on the Supreme Court) had hoped…To prevent harmful student behaviors such as drug use, school policies that address…key values, attitudes, and perceptions may prove more important in drug prevention than drug testing.

The study also found that the percentages of schools adopting drug testing policies between 18 and 001 was relatively low, with only 18 percent of schools implementing drug testing policies, the majority focusing on those who are suspected of using drugs. Suspicion less drug testing was far less common less than five percent of schools in the study drug tested athletes, and only two percent of schools drug tested students in extracurricular activities.

The ACLU, which has been fighting random student drug testing, welcomed this news. The research in this study supports the opinion of doctors, social workers and education professionals many of whom submitted friend-of-the-court briefs supporting the ACLU's Supreme Court challenge that students and student athletes should not be singled out for involuntary screening for drugs, Boyd said.

As a policy matter, violating students' rights while doing nothing to reduce the amount of drug use in schools makes little sense, he added, noting that other studies have demonstrated that the single best way to prevent drug use among students is to engage them in extra-curricular activities.

http//www.monitoringthefuture.org/pubs/text/ryldjpom0.pdf

Houston Business Journal

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IN DEPTH HEALTH CARE QUARTERLY

Drug use, abuse remain serious workplace problem

Becky Vance

It is commonly assumed that the growth of corporate drug testing programs has solved the workplace drug abuse problem. Some companies may indeed see a decrease in the number of positive test results. But the number of employees trying to cheat, or adulterate their tests, is increasing.

In Texas, cheating on drug tests is a misdemeanor, but vast numbers of drug users still try. A quick search of the Internet reveals dozens of anti-drug testing Web sites where so-called cleansing aids are sold for the sole purpose of helping drug users produce a clean urine drug screen. Drug users can even purchase freeze-dried urine, or human urine that is purported to be clean.

Additionally, anti-drug testing sites, such as (http//www.testclean.com), list companies nationwide, along with an overview of the types of drug tests they require. While I was using the Internet search engines, Yahoo, Goggle, etc, I received more results for "100% Guarantee Test Clean" web sites than I received on the subject I was looking for. No matter which way I typed my query in the search box, the results always came back with a tremendous amount of sites from companies that offer products to prevent positive drug urinalysis results.

Employers are now starting to address adulteration in several ways. Many are revising their policies to treat all adulterated tests as positives. When hiring new employees, they are narrowing the window between the time the applicant must obtain a drug test and the offer of employment. The U.S. Department of Transportation, which oversees more than 8 million workers in safety-sensitive positions in the transportation industry, is considering requiring laboratories to test for adulterants.

EMPLOYED USERS

According to the American Management Associations annual Survey on Workplace Drug Testing and Drug Abuse Policies, workplace drug testing has increased by more than 1,00 percent since 187. Most Fortune 500 companies conduct pre-employment drug tests, and virtually all companies that employ drug testing show steady decreases in drug use.

That, however, has led to a troublesome, albeit not entirely unexpected result Small businesses, which employ over half of the nations workforce, are now a magnet for drug users. And it is these companies that can least afford the legal and business exposures associated with workplace substance abuse.

In stark contrast to the popular fantasy that drug users are unemployed losers, approximately 75 percent of adult illicit drug users -- some 8.5 million people -- are employed. It is estimated that at least one employee in 10 has a problem with alcohol or drugs. No company, large or small, is immune from this problem. However, how can companies test for alcohol related incidents.

Businesses should be concerned about the bottom-line impact of substance abuse in the workplace Absenteeism, de-creased productivity, higher insurance costs, and liability-related expenses.

§ Absenteeism is 66 percent higher among drug users.

§ Health benefit utilization is 00 percent higher among drug users.

§ Almost half (47 percent) of workplace accidents are drug related.

§ Disciplinary actions are 0 percent higher among drug users.

§ Employee turnover is significantly higher among drug users.

CHANGING LAWS

Laws pertaining to workplace drug testing in the United States are always changing, with courts, legislatures and regulatory agencies at both the federal and the state levels continually modifying their approach. Employers must keep abreast of these changes and regularly reevaluate their drug policies.

An employers right to implement drug and alcohol testing depends on several factors, including whether the employer is in the public or private sector, the employees are contract or at will, and whether the company is covered by the U.S. Department of Transportation regulations. Collective bargaining agreements may also enter the mix.

In Texas, laws and statutes that affect drug testing include The National Labor Relations Act, state and federal employment discrimination statutes (Title VII and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)), the Family and Medical Leave Act, workers compensation statutes, unemployment compensation statutes, state constitutions and privacy laws.

Employees are not entitled to unemployment benefits if they are fired for violating a written drug testing policy. And, while the ADA protects qualified individuals with a disability, including alcoholics and recovering drug addicts, the term disability does not include a current condition of addiction, and drug tests are not considered medical examinations under the ADA.

Although some industries, occupations and demographic groups are statistically prone to substance abuse and addiction, none are immune. Research has shown that employees who receive information about alcohol and other drugs, who work for companies with written policies and who have access to employee assistance programs definitely have lower rates of illicit drug and alcohol use.

Thus, common sense and solid evidence tell us that drug testing is good business. And every employer is in a position to address substance abuse and addiction in the workplace. Stopping it will require effort, understanding and some expense. The victory, however, is well worth both the effort and the initial costs, because no business can afford the cost of doing nothing.

Drug Use Among 8th, 10th, and 1th Graders

The percentages below show drug use trends among 8th, 10th, and 1th graders over the last years as reported by NIDAs 16 Monitoring the Future study. The study, conducted by the University of Michigans Institute for Social Research, has surveyed a representative sample of 1th graders each year since 175. In 11, the study first began surveying 8th and 10th graders. see Marijuana and Tobacco Use Up Again Among 8th and 10th Graders

8th Graders 10th Graders 1th Graders

14 15 16 14 15 16 14 15 16

MARIJUANA/HASHISH

Lifetime 16.7 1. .1 0.4 4.1 .8 8. 41.7 44.

Annual 1.0 15.8 18. 5. 8.7 .6 0.7 4.7 5.8

0-day 7.8 .1 11. 15.8 17. 0.4 1.0 1. 1.

Daily 0.7 0.8 1.5 . .8 .5 .6 4.6 4.

INHALANTS

Lifetime 1. 1.6 1. 18.0 1.0 1. 17.7 17.4 16.6

Annual 11.7 1.8 1. .1 .6 .5 7.7 8.0 7.6

0-day 5.6 6.1 5.8 .6 .5 . .7 . .5

Daily 0. 0. 0. 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.

HALLUCINOGENS

Lifetime 4. 5. 5. 8.1 . 10.5 11.4 1.7 14.0

Annual .7 .6 4.1 5.8 7. 7.8 7.6 . 10.1

0-day 1. 1.7 1. .4 . .8 .1 4.4 .5

Daily 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1

COCAINE

Lifetime .6 4. 4.5 4. 5.0 6.5 5. 6.0 7.1

Annual .1 .6 .0 .8 .5 4. .6 4.0 4.

0-day 1.0 1. 1. 1. 1.7 1.7 1.5 1.8 .0

Daily 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0. 0.

CRACK COCAINE

Lifetime .4 .7 . .1 .8 . .0 .0 .

Annual 1. 1.6 1.8 1.4 1.8 .1 1. .1 .1

0-day 0.7 0.7 0.8 0.6 0. 0.8 0.8 1.0 1.0

Daily 0.1 0.1 0.

HEROIN

Lifetime .0 . .4 1.5 1.7 .1 1. 1.6 1.8

Annual 1. 1.4 1.6 0. 1.1 1. 0.6 1.1 1.0

0-day 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.4 0.6 0.5 0. 0.6 0.5

Daily 0.1 0.1 0.1

STIMULANTS

Lifetime 1. 1.1 1.5 15.1 17.4 17.7 15.7 15. 15.

Annual 7. 8.7 .1 10. 11. 1.4 .4 . .5

0-day .6 4. 4.6 4.5 5. 5.5 4.0 4.0 4.1

Daily 0.1 0. 0.1 0.1 0. 0.1 0. 0. 0.

ALCOHOL

Lifetime 55.8 54.5 55. 71.1 70.5 71.8 80.4 80.7 7.

Annual 46.8 45. 46.5 6. 6.5 65.0 7.0 7.7 7.5

0-day 5.5 4.6 6. . 8.8 40.4 50.1 51. 50.8

Daily 1.0 0.7 1.0 1.7 1.7 1.6 . .5 .7

CIGARETTES (ANY USE)

Lifetime 46.1 46.4 4. 56. 57.6 61. 6.0 64. 6.5

Annual NA

0-day 18.6 1.1 1.0 5.4 7. 0.4 1. .5 4.0

1/ pack + per day .6 .4 4. 7.6 8. .4 11. 1.4 1.0

STEROIDS

Lifetime .0 .0 1.8 1.8 .0 1.8 .4 . 1.

Annual 1. 1.0 0. 1.1 1. 1. 1. 1.5 1.4

0-day 0.5 0.6 0.4 0.6 0.6 0.5 0. 0.7 0.7

Daily 0.1 0.1 0.4 0. 0.

Indicates less than 0.05 percent.

From National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) NOTES, March/April 17

Drug Use Estimates4.1 million Americans aged 1 or over (41.7% of the US population aged 1 and over) have used an illicit drug at least once in their lifetimes. Source Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, US Department of Health and Human Services, Results from the 001 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse Volume 1. Summary of National Findings (Rockville, MD Office of Applied Studies, August 00), p. 10, Table H.1 & p. 110, Table H.. According to the National Household Survey, in 001, 8.4 million Americans aged 1 or over (1.6% of the US population aged 1 and over) used an illicit drug. Of these, 1.1 million were White, .1 million were Black, and . million were Hispanic. Source Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, US Department of Health and Human Services, Results from the 001 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse Volume 1. Summary of National Findings (Rockville, MD Office of Applied Studies, August 00), p. 10, Table H.1; p. 110, Table H.; p. 10, Table G.4; and p. 1, Table H.14. An estimated 71 thousand Americans used crack cocaine in 18. Of those, 46 thousand were White, 4 thousand were Black, and 157 thousand were Hispanic. Source Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, US Department of Health and Human Services, National Household Survey on Drug Abuse Population Estimates 18 (Washington DC US Department of Health and Human Services, 1), pp. 7-.Below are the results of the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse 001, showing estimates of the US population aged 1 and over who admit to using substances. It is important to note that the Survey finds very slight use of hard drugs like cocaine, heroin and crack. (Note Numbers of users are in millions.) Substance Ever Used Used in Past Year Used in Past Month Number of Frequent Users

Alcohol 184.4 million 81.7% 14.6 million 6.7% 10.0 million 48.% 46. million 0.5%

Tobacco 161.0 million 71.4% 78.6 million 4.8% 66.4 million .5% N/A

Marijuana 8. million 6.% 1.0 million .% 1.1 million 4.8% N/a

Cocaine 7.7 million 1.% 4.1 million 1.% 1.6 million 0.7% N/A

Crack 6. million .8% 1.0 0.% 0.4 0.% N/A

Heroin .0 million 1.4% 0.45 0.% 0.1 0.1% N/A

Source Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, US Department of Health and Human Services, Results from the 001 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse Volume 1. Summary of National Findings (Rockville, MD Office of Applied Studies, August 00), p. 10, Table H.1; p. 110, Table H.; p. 1, Table H.1; and p. 10, Table H.. Below are results from a survey of drug use in The Netherlands published in 1. Note the difference in drug use prevalence. For more information check out the Netherlands section of Drug War Facts. Substance Ever Used Used in Past Year Used in Past Month Number of Frequent Users

Alcohol 0.% 8.5% 7.% 4.% of past month users

Cigarettes 67.% 8.1% 4.% not tracked by survey

Marijuana 15.6% 4.5% .5% 5.6% of past month users

Cocaine .1% 0.6% 0.% 1.8% of past month users

Crack not tracked separately

Heroin 0.% 0.1% too low to track too low to track

Source University of Amsterdam, Center for Drug Research, Licit and Illicit Drug Use in the Netherlands, 17 (Amsterdam University of Amsterdam, September 1), pp. 45, 46, 47, 55.

Drug War Facts is a project of Common Sense for Drug Policy.

Copyright 000-00, Common Sense for Drug Policy

Updated Monday, 14-Oct-00 15165 PDT ~ Accessed 47776 times

Becky Vance is senior director of Drug-Free Business Alliance (http//www.drug-freeworkplace.org), a division of the Council on Alcohol and Drugs Houston.

000 American City Business Journals Inc.

Article chosen Drug use, abuse remain serious workplace problem

Copyright 000 American City Business Journals Inc.

Publication Houston Business Journal

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Organisational Behaviour

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1. Introduction

We are going to examine numerous case studies, the theories of Maslow, Herzberg, Vroom & Adam's and other supporting evidence, in relation to job satisfaction. We will look at why the study of job satisfaction is important for managers, what factors influence job satisfaction in organisations and what is the relationship between job satisfaction and productivity.

There is no direct theory regarding job satisfaction, however there are endless case studies and articles on this topic. The theories referred to all have their academic critics as well as avid supporters.

Job satisfaction has been one of the most extensively discussed and studied concepts in organisational and personnel management, accounting for thousands of published works. The information generated by research into this area has practical implications for individuals and organisations alike, as employees strive for the best quality of life possible and managers are faced with the ever- increasing challenge of operating efficient, effective organisations using the human and technological resources available to them. Understanding job satisfaction and what it means is not only a desirable, but also a critical aspect of life for both organisations and individuals.

Help with essay on Organisational Behaviour

. What is Job Satisfaction & Why is the study of it important?

Job satisfaction is about how individuals feel about their jobs i.e. their attitude. It is an outcome of their perception of their jobs and the degree to which there is a good fit between them and the organisation. Numerous aspects of the job impact job satisfaction, including pay, promotional opportunities, supervisors & co-workers as well as factors of the work environment, such as policies & procedures, working conditions and fringe benefits. (Ivancevich et al. 1 1)

A major reason why the study of job satisfaction is so important is to provide managers with ways to improve employee attitudes. The levels of employee job satisfaction are determined by many organisations from attitude surveys. It is difficult to determine the actual degree of job satisfaction from surveys, particularly in a specific department as well as a bias towards giving a positive answer. (Ivancevich et al. 1 )

. Relevant Theories

There are numerous theories in relation to motivation, but no direct theory for job satisfaction. However, these theories provide aspects and important insights for managers, particularly in terms of employee needs and job satisfaction. The relevant theories and an outline of each follows;

Herzberg's two-factor theory

In the late 150s, Frederick Herzberg, considered by many to be a pioneer in motivation theory, interviewed a group of employees to find out what made them satisfied and dissatisfied on the job. He asked the employees essentially two sets of questions

1. Think of a time when you felt especially good about your job. Why did you feel that way?

. Think of a time when you felt especially bad about your job. Why did you feel that way?

From these interviews Herzberg went on to develop his theory that there are two dimensions to job satisfaction motivation and hygiene

The absence of hygiene factors in the workplace causes dissatisfaction, however their presence at an acceptable level would only produce a neutral feeling. It is then argued that the opposite of dissatisfaction is not satisfaction. It is also argued that the presence of 'motivators' would produce high levels of job satisfaction and motivation.

? This theory links with Maslow's theory, in particular hygiene factors line up with security and physiological needs, as well as 'motivators' which aligns with the opportunity for people to satisfy their higher order needs.

Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory

Abraham Maslow published his theory of human motivation in 14. Maslows insight was to place actualisation into a hierarchy of motivation. Self-actualization, as he called it, is the highest drive, but before a person can turn to it, he or she must satisfy other, lower motivations like hunger, safety and belonging. The hierarchy has five levels.

1. Physiological (hunger, thirst, shelter, sex, etc.)

. Safety (security, protection from physical and emotional harm)

. Social (affection, belonging, acceptance, friendship)

4. Esteem (also called ego). The internal ones are self-respect, autonomy, achievement and the external ones are status, recognition, and attention.

5. Self actualization (doing things)

? As is Herzbergs theory, Maslow's theory is more widely accepted by managers than by researchers. Research findings on Maslow's theory fail to support the existence of a needs hierarchy. Instead they suggest there is only two levels physiological and all other needs.

Maslow points out that the hierarchy is dynamic; the dominant need is always shifting. Satisfaction is relative. He notes that a satisfied need no longer motivates. For example, a hungry man may be desperate for food, but once he eats a good meal, the promise of food no longer motivates him.

One of the most common critisms concerning his methodology however , revolved around only, picking a small number of people that he himself declared self-actualising, then reading about them or talking with them, and coming to conclusions about what self-actualization is in the first place. In his defence, it should point out that he understood this, and thought of his work as simply pointing the way. He hoped that others would take up the cause and complete what he had begun in a more rigorous fashion.

Vroom's expectancy theory

Victor Vroom suggests that employees behave in certain ways because of the outcomes they expect as a result of their performance and because of the attractiveness of those outcomes.

Vroom argues that individual choices are determined by an individual's assessment of the relationship between effort and performance, between performance and the attainment and the value of those rewards. This theory suggests performance leads to satisfaction, but satisfaction does not lead to performance.

Adams' equity theory

Adam's theory was developed in 165 and essentially it is about perceived fairness in the workplace. It states that people trade inputs for outcomes with inputs being effort, time, skill and outcomes being pay, recognition or opportunities for social interaction.

Adam's argues that each worker perceives a ratio of their inputs to outcomes and compares this to an appropriate person. If the ratios are not similar, the worker will see an imbalance or inequity, which then leads towards feelings of discomfort and tension, resulting in lower levels of job satisfaction.

4. Influencing factors & Related studies

There are numerous dimensions associated with job satisfaction in organisations, with five in particular that have crucial characteristics. They are pay, job, promotion opportunities, supervisor and co-workers.

Cranny, Smith, & Stones (1) study of job satisfaction and job performance identified several factors that influence job satisfaction. They found that job satisfaction is substantially influenced by intrinsically rewarding conditions such as interesting work, challenge, and autonomy. To a lesser extent, they found that extrinsic rewards, such as pay and security, also influence job satisfaction. They did not find any direct evidence that job performance directly influences job satisfaction, although it indirectly affected it through the consequences of greater rewards.

Edgar Schien suggests that the degree to which employees are willing to exert effort, commit to organisational goals and derive satisfaction from their work is dependant on two conditions

1. the extent to which employee expectations of what the organisation will give them and what they owe the organisation in return matches the organisation's expectations of what it will give and receive;

. assuming there is agreement on these expectations, the specific nature of what is exchanged (e.g. effort for pay)

The mutual expectations regarding exchanges constitute part of the psychological contract. The psychological contract is an unwritten agreement between the individual and the organisation, which specifies what each, expects to give to and receive from the other. (Ivancevich et al. 1 14)

As discussed previously Herzbergs theory and research suggests that job dissatisfaction is caused by the absence of or deficits in hygiene factors such as salary, job security, working conditions, status, company policies, quality of supervision, and quality of interpersonal relationships. These factors, although they can cause job dissatisfaction if deficient, do not result in job satisfaction if present. Rather, according to Herzberg, it is the motivation factors intrinsic to a job and related to job content that have the power to increase job satisfaction. Motivation factors include achievement, recognition, responsibility, advancement, the work itself, and possibility of growth.

The graph below shows a composite of the factors that are involved in causing job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction, drawn from samples of 1685 employees.

Graph XX Factors affecting job attitudes as reported in 1 investigations

Factors characterising 1844 events on the job that led to extreme dissatisfaction Factors characterising 175 events on the job that led to extreme satisfaction

Percentage frequency 50% 40% 0% 0% 10% 0% 10% 0% 0% 40% 50%

Achievement

Recognition

Work Itself

Resposibility

Advancement

Growth

Cpy policy & admin

Supervision

Relationship with supervisor

Work conditions

Salary

Relationship with peers All factors contributing to Job dissatisfaction All factors contributing to Job satisfaction

Personal Life

Relationship with subordinates 6 Hygiene 1

Status 1 Motivators 81

Security 80% 60% 40% 0% 0% 0% 40% 60% 80%

Ratio and percent

The results indicate that motivators were the primary cause of unhappiness on the job. The employees studied in 1 different investigations included a wide variety of positions, levels and occupations. They were asked what job events had occurred in their work that had led to extreme satisfaction or extreme dissatisfaction on their part.

As the lower right hand part of the graph shows, of all the factors contributing to job satisfaction, 81% were motivators. And of all the factors contributing to the employees' dissatisfaction over their work, 6% involved hygiene elements.

(Sourced HBR article by Frederick Herzberg, One more time How do you Motivate Employees? September-October 187)

Eskew and Heneman (16) found in surveying compensation amongst professionals that pay based on merit is seen as being only marginally successful in influencing employees attitudes and behavior. Kovach (15) found that although supervisors believe that good salaries were very important to employees, the employees themselves report that interesting work is the most important. Ettore (14) reported that job satisfaction is more important to both men and women than any other job- related factor, including financial remuneration.

Filipczak (16) and Merit (15) discuss the need to recognize that money is not high in its relation to job satisfaction or employee motivation, and that Herzbergs Motivation- Hygiene Theory of satisfaction versus dissatisfaction on the job needs to be taken into account when looking at motivators for employees. They suggest that while correcting inadequate wages, poor company policy, poor supervision, or lack of job security can reduce employee dissatisfaction, only intrinsic motivators (such as recognition, interesting and challenging work, and opportunities for advancement) can serve to increase satisfaction.

Burke and McKeen (15a) found in studying managerial and professional women that those working in male- dominated organizations have lower job satisfaction than those working in organizations with fewer men at the higher levels of management. They speculated that exclusion from the boys club network or the feeling of being an outsider might be relevant factors. Burke and McKeen (15b) in another study report that while a increasing proportion of accountants are women, they do not seem to be obtaining the rank of partner at the same rate, as what men do. They found that women accountants with more gaps in employment reported less job satisfaction and less job involvement.

Dodd-McKue and Wright (16) found in studying accountants that women are less committed to their organizations and are less satisfied; and they suggest that womens under- representation in upper management, as well their job satisfaction, involvement, and commitment, could be increased by altering factors within an organisations control.

Barry Staw and his co-workers reviewed the extent to which personality could affect job satisfaction. It was determined that individuals who hold a more positive and enthusiastic view will also report greater job satisfaction. Staw argues that his findings have important organisation implications and that selection rather than organisational programs are the key to obtaining a satisfied workforce.

Several criticisms can be made of Staw's research. Newton and Keenan reported individuals who, over time, remained with the same employer reported stable levels of anger, frustration, hostility, alienation and job satisfaction, however those who changed employers reported decreases in these with a corresponding increase in job satisfaction.

Gerhart showed that by including a range of situational factors such as pay, status and job complexity, situational factors are able to predict job satisfaction. He also demonstrated that the correlation between affect and job satisfaction was highest when individuals stayed in the same occupation with the same employer and vice versa. These findings suggest that Staw's results can be explained in terms of an older and more stable work group.

Therefore, organisations should be concerned with conditions of employment and organisational programs, such as job redesign that are aimed at improving the quality of working life. (Ivancevich et al. 1 75)

??Lawson Savery (11) assessed the extent to which men and women differ in their expectations of the workplace, by using staff in a government department. His findings showed that women want greater job security and that men want better promotion prospects, more opportunities to lead, greater responsibility and higher social status. Women and men do not differ in pay, challenge, interest, working hours, autonomy, variety, opportunities for learning, cooperation from others and career development. (Ivancevich et al. 1 18)

Trist and Bamworth (151) advocated a proper balance between social and technical systems to achieve optimal productivity. Trist and other researchers from the Tavistock Institute for Social Research in the UK identified the following psychological requirements as critical to worker motivation and satisfaction;

1. The content of each job must be reasonably demanding or challenging and provide some variety.

. Performing the job must have perceivable, desirable consequences.

. Workers should be able to see how the lives of other people are affected by what they do.

4. Workers must have some decision-making authority.

5. Workers must be able to learn from the job and go on learning.

6. Workers need the opportunity to give and receive help

As employees of ANZ Banking Group (ANZ), there are extensive staff programs in operation and gradually increasing to meet the needs of the employees. These programs have been put in place in more recent times to build upon job satisfaction and overall satisfaction with ANZ.

These programs include, but are not limited to;

§ Staff Share scheme Bonus shares, dependent on annual results

§ Share acquisition plan Discounted shares and salary sacrifice

§ Pay for Performance Individual contracts for managers

§ Family friendly initiatives Paid maternity leave, parental leave, career breaks etc.

§ Bright Ideas 10% reward for savings identified and suggested

§ AAA Projects Rewards for Improvements made to processes

§ PC's at Home Package Discounted home computers

§ Staff Foundation Community involvement

§ Greening of the environment

From personal experiences these programs have had a significant impact on our job satisfaction. We can also relate to times prior to these programs when such programs were non existent.

In such a large organisation, we know of fellow employees who even with these programs are not satisfied with their job, due to their current role, manager and/or circumstances and generally are not highly productive. However, we both currently have a high level of job satisfaction, as along with these programs have fulfilling roles, which we enjoy. As a result are both highly motivated and productive. Although, we can relate to times when this has not been the situation.

The whole idea of job satisfaction is a moving target. For many people, how satisfied they feel is a complex interplay of whats happening in their personal and business lives.

Job expectations also play into the elusive nature of job satisfaction. To find out the levels of job satisfaction amongst their employees, some companies administer employee surveys. These surveys ask how people feel about their supervisors, their work environment, promotions and career training, the quality & level of communication, and the salary and benefits package. These factors are all part of overall job satisfaction.

Annual staff surveys as well as Snapshot surveys are conducted at ANZ to measure the various factors discussed above. These surveys are quite extensive with questions aimed at an individual level, as well as team and organisation level. (See Appendices)

5. Relationship with productivity

The study of job satisfaction and its relationship to job performance is one of the most widely debated and controversial issues. There are three general views satisfaction causes performance; performance causes satisfaction; and the satisfaction-performance relationship is moderated by other variables such as rewards. (Ivancevich et al. 1 )

There is minimal research to support the first two views. There are extensive studies dealing with the performance-satisfaction relationship, of which a review of twenty of these studies found a low association between performance and satisfaction. The evidence is clear that a satisfied worker is not necessarily a high performer and vice versa. (Ivancevich et al. 1 )

The numerous motivational theories provide managers with tools for directing the energy of employees towards the accomplishment of organisational goals, however the individual's willingness to perform is only one side of the psychological contract. Managers and their organisations must ensure individuals have the capacity and opportunity to perform, to optimise job performance.

Vroom's theory refers to an effort-performance expectancy, which represents the individual's perception of how hard it will be to achieve a particular behaviour and the probability of achieving that behaviour. There is also a performance-outcome expectancy, where in an individual's mind every behaviour is associated with outcomes e.g. reward (Ivancevich et al. 1 11). Therefore, suggesting performance leads to satisfaction, but satisfaction does not lead to performance.

The below table shows the significance of environmental factors for employees with different degrees of job satisfaction. This data indicates that very dissatisfied employees continue to stay because of financial considerations, family responsibilities, lack of outside opportunities, age etc.

? Such reasons for staying are self-defeating and hardly could be considered right. These turn offs have not yet affected turnover statistics, but still they may be having just as severe, or even a more severe, effect on the company.

These employees see themselves as so locked in by the environment that they have little alternative but to stay; and, therefore, the possibility of reduced productivity or behavior antagonistic to the organization is great.

Skill Level Job Satisfaction Level

Reasons for staying Low Moderate Manager Very Low Low High

I wouldn't want to rebuild most of the benefits that I have now if I left the company 7% 64% 6% 76% 6% 44%

I have family responsibilities 6% 55% 46% 76% 7% 44%

I have good personal friends here at work 57% 45% 4% 5% 45% 8%

The company's been good to me and I don't believe in jumping from company to company 57% 5% 41% 4% % 58%

I'm working to make ends meet and I don't want to take the risks in a new job 57% 6% 8% 5% 5% 1%

I wouldn't like to look for a job on the outside 5% % 1% 5% % 0%

I'm a little too old for starting over again 46% 5% 14% 41% 4% 0%

I wouldn't like to start all over learning the policies of a new company % 0% % 5% 7% 17%

I like to live in this area 0% 1% 58% 5% 8% 7%

Difficult to find a job 58% 4% 47% 5% 5% 4%

According to Cranny, Smith, & Stone (1), the methods researchers used to study performance and satisfaction influence the conclusions reached about their relationship. They suggest that correlational studies have shown moderate relationships at best, while intervention research suggests a stronger relationship. Katzell & Guzzo (18), for example, reviewed 07 studies of the effects of psychologically based interventions on productivity and performance, and reported that 87 percent of the interventions were successful in raising productivity (as well as job satisfaction).

Another example of the inconsistencies of the various conclusions that can be formed from studies or surveys relates to the Lucent Technology Job satisfaction (See Appendices) where an interesting outcome becomes clear from the results. "Non-monetary recognition of achievement, though rated next to last in importance, is the strongest indicator of high overall job satisfaction. "

Other recent studies have discussed the relationship between job satisfaction and job performance. DeConinck and Stilwell (16) found in studying female advertising executives that job satisfaction is a significant predictor of organizational commitment; and Becker, Billings, Eveleth, & Gilbert (16) found that organizational commitment as targeted at supervisors was positively related to performance. Keller, Julian, & Kidia (16) found in studying research and development teams that satisfaction with pay, advancement, and supervision was related to an increase in patent acquisition, technical quality ratings, and publication of articles.

? Hackman, Oldham, Janson and Purdy devised the job characteristics model, which also shows some linkage between satisfaction and performance. This model grew out of attempts to measure individual perceptions of job content, which identified the five core components of jobs, being skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy and feedback. The model attempts to account for interrelationships among certain job characteristics; psychological states associated with motivation, satisfaction and performance; job outcomes; and growth need strength. (Ivancevich et al. 1 16-170)

There is no simple, all-encompassing set of guidelines on how to motivate employees, which leads to job satisfaction and productivity, however the following suggestions will assist greatly;

§ Recognise Individual differences

§ Match people to jobs

§ Use Goals

§ Ensure that Goals are perceived as attainable

§ Individualise Rewards

§ Link Rewards to Performance

§ Check the system for Equity

§ Don't ignore money!

(Robbins 1 5-60)

6. Conclusion

We have discussed a number of theories and case studies in this document and referred to numerous articles, to find there is no simple way of determining or managing job satisfaction within organisations. There are extensive articles on job satisfaction and numerous influencing factors, with some links between job satisfaction and productivity, however there is no clear evidence of any direct relationship.

Herzberg's theory is the closest theory to supporting job satisfaction, but in itself is actually a motivation theory??.

The importance of job satisfaction to the dynamics of the workforce has made it one of the most widely discussed and researched topics in management. Although research over time has provided inconsistent results about the relationship between job satisfaction and other work- related attitudes and behaviours such as job performance, there has been work done to refine and standardize the way in which job satisfaction is defined and measured.

We therefore conclude that there is no direct relationship between job satisfaction and productivity

7. References

1. Douthit, M. (1) 'Job Satisfaction Returns to Human and Social Capital', The Journal of Behavioural an Applied Management, Vol 1(1), pp.67.

. Flowers, V. & Hughes, C. (17) 'Why Employees Stay?', Harvard Business Review, Harvard College, USA.

. Herzberg, F. (187) 'One More Time How Do You Motivate Employees?', Harvard Business Review, Harvard College, USA.

4. Ivancevich, J., Olekalns, M. & Matteson, M. (1) Organisational Behaviour and Management, McGraw-Hill, Sydney.

5. Ott, J. (ed) (16), Classic Readings in Organisational Behaviour, nd edn, Wadsworth, Belmont, CA.

6. Robbins, S. (1), Essentials of Organisational Behaviour, rd edition, Prentice Hall, New Jersey.

8. Appendices

Case Study - Lucent Technologies

Overall, two-thirds of networking professionals are satisfied with their current jobs, leaving the remaining third dissatisfied. This outcome is an improvement from the survey conducted in 18, where only 56% of respondents were satisfied with their jobs, and 44% were unsatisfied. In fact, nearly one-quarter (%) of respondents in 1 describe themselves as very satisfied with their current job, compared to only 17% one year ago. Clearly, something good has been happening over the past year for networking professionals, although there is still much room for improvement.

When viewed by the size of the company in which respondents work, overall job satisfaction is fairly consistent until we reach companies with 0,000 or more employees. Here we see a significant (approximately 10%) drop-off in job satisfaction. Four job factors appear to be the cause of this lower job satisfaction level type of work, non-monetary recognition of achievement, compensation package, and balanced work week. For each of these contributors to overall job satisfaction, 11%-15% fewer respondents from companies with 0,000 or more employees are satisfied than respondents from companies with fewer than 0,000 employees.

Taken from another viewpoint, job function also plays a role in overall job satisfaction. Curiously, IT managers and directors are both the most likely to say that they are very satisfied with their current job (%) and most likely to be completely dissatisfied with their current job (15%), perhaps a reflection of both the increased stresses and rewards that these positions offer. IT consultants, on the other hand, are as likely as IT managers and directors to be dissatisfied with their current job (5%), but considerably fewer are very satisfied with their current job (4%). Technical staff other than network administrators (who are least likely to be satisfied with their current jobs) have, on average, the highest overall satisfaction with their current jobs, with a satisfaction rating of .0 on a scale of 1-4, where 4 is very satisfied.

Overall job satisfaction of network professionals is not significantly influenced by either the length of time with their current employer or length of time in the networking industry, although professionals who are new to their job or the profession tend to have slightly higher overall job satisfaction.

There are many factors that contribute to the satisfaction a network professional derives from his/her job. These factors range from opportunities for growth and responsibility, to compensation and monetary reward practices, to vacation and flex-time policies. Each of these plays a role to a greater or lesser extent in forming overall job satisfaction. When we asked respondents to tell us how important 15 different job factors are to the satisfaction they would get from an ideal job, the opportunity to learn new skills was at the top of the list, along with achievement opportunities, type of work, and professional growth opportunities. The importance of a compensation package is only sixth on the list, and monetary recognition of achievement a distant 10th.

Clearly, network professionals demand more from their work than money; foremost they want challenge and the ability to move ahead. They are even willing to work longer hours (the importance of a balanced work week is 1th in importance) to achieve those goals.

Network professionals satisfaction with the same set of job factors shows a different picture entirely. On this measure, relationships with co-workers and supervisors, along with vacation policy, take three of the top four slots for satisfaction. However, type of work, which is third in importance, is second in satisfaction, and opportunity to take responsibility, which is fifth in importance, is also fifth in satisfaction. On these two important yardsticks, companies appear to be doing a good job. On the other hand, 6% of respondents indicate that compensation packages are important, but four out of ten are dissatisfied with their compensation package.

7. References

1. Douthit, M. (1) 'Job Satisfaction Returns to Human and Social Capital', The Journal of Behavioural an Applied Management, Vol 1(1), pp.67.

. Flowers, V. & Hughes, C. (17) 'Why Employees Stay?', Harvard Business Review, Harvard College, USA.

. Herzberg, F. (187) 'One More Time How Do You Motivate Employees?', Harvard Business Review, Harvard College, USA.

4. Ivancevich, J., Olekalns, M. & Matteson, M. (1) Organisational Behaviour and Management, McGraw-Hill, Sydney.

5. Ott, J. (ed) (16), Classic Readings in Organisational Behaviour, nd edn, Wadsworth, Belmont, CA.

6. Robbins, S. (1), Essentials of Organisational Behaviour, rd edition, Prentice Hall, New Jersey.

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Abortion raises subtle problems for private conscience, public policy, and constitutional law. Most of these problems are essentially philosophical, requiring a degree of clarity about basic concepts that is seldom achieved in legislative debates and letters to newspapers (Feinberg 184 1).

The above quote is taken from The Problem of Abortion, an important anthology of articles for anyone with an interest in this particular moral issue. In this paper, I intend to examine the views of two leading philosophical figures in the abortion debate. The emergence of abortion as an ethical issue went hand in hand with the introduction of practical ethics in the 160s. Indeed as L.W. Sumner pointed out in his book, Abortion and Moral Theory

As late as two decades ago abortion was nowhere a prominent public issue. In virtually every nation of the world, performing an abortion was, under all but the rarest of circumstances, a criminal act... An organised women's movement was non-existent in the fifties. Although the control of reproduction had been an issue for decades, the energies of reform groups were largely directed to securing legal access to contraceptives. Most such groups, whether out of principle or pragmatism, took pains to distinguish the availability of contraception from that of abortion. The consensus in all sides was that abortion was a further and much more troubled question, one that it was premature to place on the public agenda (Sumner 181 ).

As soon as abortion was placed on the public agenda, changes in government policy towards and changes in public opinion on abortion stimulated philosophers to turn their attention towards this issue in an effort to resolve it. Public issues, then, became matters of philosophical concern. Philosophy appeared to be uniquely suited to resolving issues of public debate. It could analyse these matters in a highly rational as opposed to a highly emotional manner. Philosophers began to take a keen interest in abortion in the 160s, and they have continued to do so ever since.

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Joel Feinberg points out that questions about the morality of abortion can be divided in two groups; those concerned with problems about the moral status of the unborn and those concerned with the resolution of conflicting claims - in particular, the claims of the mother and those of the fetus (Feinberg 184 1). As far as the moral status of the unborn is concerned, we find that certain philosophers accord them no moral status whereas other philosophers accord them full moral status. If philosophers view the problem of abortion as a problem of conflicting claims, then they either argue that the claims of the mother supersede those of the foetus or vice versa. All of the above points will be discussed in the course of this paper.

It is important to note, however, that our ideas about abortion do not exist in a moral vacuum. In other words, what I believe in relation to abortion will, whether I like it or not, influence what I believe in relation to other public issues such as infanticide, euthanasia, and eugenics. Arguments that those who favour even limited access to abortion will unwittingly usher in other 'moral ills' such as infanticide, euthanasia, and eugenics are known as 'slippery slope arguments'. These arguments are, not surprisingly, hotly disputed by those philosophers who seek to limit themselves to the abortion issue. However, certain philosophers do not appear to have any problem with certain of the consequences of a positive stance on abortion implied by the 'slippery slope argument'. Michael Tooley, as we shall see, argues in favour of abortion and infanticide.

It is easy to see why 'slippery slope arguments' have become popular among opponents of abortion. These arguments essentially comprise the claim that a lack of respect for any form of human life will result in a gradual eroding of respect for all forms of human life. The common thread running through the arguments of those who support the slippery slope argument is that we must protect the most vulnerable members of our society. Otherwise, we will end up with what is known as eugenics or survival of the genetically fittest'. Opinion, needless to say, is divided in the merits and demerits of eugenics. Do we have the right to create a genetically perfect society by any means necessary? If the answer is yes, then abortion, albeit of a limited form, would appear to be permissible. Critics can, of course, argue that the richness of our human culture is as much due to genetic imperfection as it is to genetic perfection, and that, consequently, the creation of a genetically perfect society is not a morally appropriate goal for man.

As far as the structure of this paper is concerned, part one will briefly examine some of the points which Judith Jarvis Thomson raises in her highly influential article, 'A Defense Of Abortion.' Indeed, William Parent, the editor of one of Thomson's books, tells us that this article is now the most widely reprinted essay in all of contemporary philosophy (Thomson 186 vii). Judith Jarvis Thomson bases her argument on the assumption that foetuses are persons from the moment of conception. Despite the latter assumption, Thomson argues that this does not necessarily mean that foetuses have a right to life. She is not, however, in favour of infanticide. She is also not in favour of abortion on demand but argues instead, as Susan Sherwin points out, that if the costs to the mother are not too severe, then it seems it would be proper of her to provide such care (and, in some cases, it would be 'positively indecent' of her not to) but that, even so, it seems she does not have an actual moral duty to do so (Sherwin 181 1). Part two will examine some of the points raised by Michael Tooley in an article entitled 'In Defense of Abortion and Infanticide,' which is published in the second edition of Feinberg's excellent anthology, The Problem of Abortion, as well as offering a brief summary of Tooley's book, Abortion and Infanticide. Michael Tooley accords foetuses and certain infants no moral status. Tooley, unlike Thomson, argues that not only abortion but also infanticide should be seen to be morally permissible on the grounds that both involve the killing of nonpersons. Part three will examine some criticisms of Thomson's article. Such criticisms are invariably associated with the thought experiments which she uses to support her position. Indeed, her imaginative thought experiments undoubtedly serve to partly explain the article's continued popularity. Part four will consider Tooley's approach to the issues of abortion and infanticide. I should mention that Tooley also uses thought experiments, but the spatial constraints of this paper prevented me from either presenting them or criticising them. In any case, a basic understanding of Tooley's central argument does not, in my view, necessarily involve an awareness of his thought experiments. Part five will explore an alternative and, to my mind, more realistic approach to the issues of abortion and infanticide. This approach will indicate new ways in which personhood can be understood in the context of these issues.

My conclusion will be that although Thomson and Tooley have raised some important points which richly deserve our closest attention, they fail to properly relate their arguments to the issues of abortion and infanticide for several reasons. Firstly, Thomson's thought experiment involving an ailing violinist bears no resemblance to the abortion situation. Secondly, Thomson and Tooley have failed to grasp the uniqueness of the abortion dilemma in their arguments. They both place too much emphasis on the woman and too little emphasis on the foetus. They fail to realise that the needs of both beings must be taken into account.

I

Thomson begins her article 'A Defense Of Abortion' by tackling the premiss which she believes much of the opposition to abortion relies upon, viz. that the foetus is a human being or person from the time it is conceived. To claim this, she argues, would be like claiming that an acorn is an oak tree. She does, however, concede that choosing a point in the development of the foetus where we can definitely say that a human being exists, which didn't exist before this point, is highly problematic. Indeed, she tells us that, in her view, we shall probably have to agree that the foetus has already become a human person well before birth (Thomson 171 48). She does not, however, believe that a human being or person is present at conception. Despite the latter statement, Thomson is prepared to allow, for the purposes of her argument, the premiss that the foetus is a person from the time of conception.

Thomson proceeds by outlining what she believes to be the argument which certain opponents of abortion would derive from the premiss above-mentioned. The crux of this argument, as Thomson sees it, is that the right to life of the foetus outweighs the right to life of the mother to decide what happens in and to her body (Thomson 171 48). The subsequent thought experiment which Thomson places before us is an attempt to expose the flaws which she believes exist in the latter statement. The thought experiment involves you imagining a situation in which you wake up in a hospital bed to discover that your circulatory system has been connected up to the circulatory system of an unconscious famous violinist. The reason given for this gross abuse of your privacy is that the violinist has a serious kidney infection. Unfortunately for you the appropriate treatment consists of connecting him up to you, since both you and the violinist have been found to possess the same rare blood type by the Society of Music Lovers. The hospital director informs you that even though the Society of Music Lovers was wrong to kidnap you and place you in this difficult position, you are morally compelled to remain as you are until such time as the violinist can function independently of you. To do otherwise, he points out, would result in the death of the violinist and to allow this, at least in the eyes of the hospital director, is patently impermissible. Given that the time frame involved is nine months, Thomson asks you whether you would feel morally obliged to defer to the wishes and beliefs of the hospital director. Apparently worried that you will fail to see what she sees as a ludicrous situation which you are under no obligation to tolerate, Thomson stretches the time frame indefinitely. In short, she wants us to accept that the right to life of one person does not override the right of another person to choose what happens in and to his or her body, when the connection between such people resembles that expressed in the thought experiment outlined above.

Thomson acknowledges the fact that opponents of abortion can point to the involuntary nature of the relationship between the violinist and donor, and can liken such a relationship to that between the mother and foetus in a rape-induced pregnancy. She goes on to say that they can then make an exception for such pregnancies and can say that persons have a right to life only if they didn't come into existence because of rape; or they can say that all persons have a right to life, but that some have less of a right than others, in particular, that those who came into existence because of rape have less (Thomson 171 4). As it happens, Thomson tells us, most opponents of abortion do not make allowances for cases of rape.

Thomson is concerned with the phenomenon of unwanted pregnancies in general, and not just with the phenomenon of unwanted pregnancies arising as a result of rape. In order to explain her position on this matter, she claims that it is necessary to distinguish between two kinds of Samaritan the Good Samaritan and what we might call the Minimally Decent Samaritan (Thomson 171 6). Thomson uses the famous biblical story to assist her in explaining the distinction. The Good Samaritan in the story, Thomson reminds us, was the person who seriously inconvenienced himself in assisting the person in need. The Minimally Decent Samaritan, had he or she been present in the story, would have been the person who would have helped the person in need by doing less for him than the Good Samaritan did. Hence, it turns out that, according that, according to Thomson, the people in the story who did nothing to help the person in need were not even Minimally Decent Samaritans not because they were not Samaritans, but because they were not even minimally decent (Thomson 171 6).

Even if the story of the Good Samaritan was meant to serve as an example of what we should do in similar circumstances, we are not required, according to Thomson, to do more than the Good Samaritan would do in similar circumstances. Society at present, however, Thomson points out, requires women to be not merely Minimally Decent Samaritans, but Good Samaritans to unborn persons inside them (Thomson 171 6).

Thomson acknowledges the fact that some people might claim that all of her analogies fail to take into account the special relationship which exists between mother and foetus. She, however, contends that no such relationship exists unless one assumes responsibility for the foetus either implicitly or explicitly. Once the parents have assumed responsibility for the foetus, they have given it rights, and they cannot now withdraw support from it at the cost of its life because they now find it difficult to go on providing for it (Thomson 171 65). Hence, unprotected sex, with foreknowledge of the possible consequences, resulting in pregnancy and carried to term involves, according to Thomson, the implicit assumption of certain responsibilities which cannot be withdrawn if to do so would result in the death of the foetus.

On the other hand, if the parents have taken all reasonable precautions against having a child, they do not simply by virtue of their biological relationship to the child who comes into existence have a special responsibility for it (Thomson 171 65). What this means for Thomson is that if protected sexual intercourse results in an unwanted pregnancy, then the parents have the choice of either accepting or rejecting responsibility for the foetus but that if assuming responsibility for it would require large sacrifices, then they may refuse (Thomson 171 65). Thomson tells us that a Splendid Samaritan would assume responsibility for the foetus in the previous situation, regardless of the consequences which such a decision might have for him or her. She points out, however, that a Splendid Samaritan would also assume responsibility for the famous violinist.

Thomson concludes her article with an explanation as to why many proponents of the right to choose will find her argument concerning abortion somewhat lacking in terms of what it can do to assist their argument. Firstly, she points out that she has been arguing that abortion is sometimes, though not always, permissible. She has, in particular, been arguing that cases involving 'Minimally Decent Samaritanism' should be endured, whereas cases of pregnancy involving Good or Splendid Samaritanism needn't necessarily be endured. Secondly, she tells us that she has not been arguing for the right to secure the death of the unborn child (Thomson 171 66). She acknowledges the fact that, given current medical capabilities, it is easy to make the mistake of taking abortion to mean the fully intended destruction of the foetus rather than the termination of a pregnancy. In other words, because most abortions are carried out when the foetus has no chance of surviving outside the womb under present medical conditions, people often tend to equate abortion with the death of the foetus instead of seeing it as the termination of a pregnancy. According to Thomson, the desire for the child's death is not one which anybody may gratify, should it turn out to be possible to detach the child alive (Thomson 171 66).

Thomson ends her article by saying that if we accept, as she does, that no person exists at conception or for a period after conception, bearing in mind that we have only been pretending throughout that the foetus is a human being from the moment of conception, then very early abortions do not comprise the subject matter for moral debate (Thomson 171 66). In other words, only when the requisite physiological development has occurred, in Thomson's view, can we justifiably couch a discussion of the abortion of such an entity in moral terms.

II

In his article entitled 'In Defense of Abortion and Infanticide,' Michael Tooley introduces Feinberg's 'interest principle' in an effort to better explain his position. He tells us that, according to the 'interest principle', only that which has or is capable of having interests can have rights. In addition, interests are in some way related to desires. Tooley finds the interest principle somewhat lacking for his purposes because although it talks of things possibly having rights, it does not talk of things actually having rights - including, in particular, a right not to be destroyed (Feinberg 184 14). He goes on to define a 'particular interest principle' which, he tells us, asserts that an entity cannot have a particular right, R, unless it is at least capable of having some interest, I, which is furthered by its having right R (Feinberg 184 15). This, he tells us, will help to explain why new-born kittens have a right not to be tortured but do not have a serious right to life. Kittens have a right not to be tortured, according to Tooley, because they can be said to have an interest in not experiencing pain. Kittens do not, however, according to Tooley, have a serious right to life because they cannot be said to have an interest in their own continued existence. Tooley contends that kittens cannot have an interest in their own continued existence because they lack self-consciousness. Moreover, he argues that since not only foetuses but also new-born babies lack self-consciousness and, consequently, cannot have an interest in their own continued existence, they also do not have a serious right to life.

Tooley applies the 'particular interest principle' to the concept of a right to life. Before doing this, however, he replaces the term 'right to life' with the term 'right of a subject of experiences and other mental states to continue to exist'. He makes the point that interests presuppose desires and that desires existing at different times can belong to a single continuing subject of consciousness only if that subject of consciousness possesses, at some time, the concept of a continuing self or mental substance (Feinberg 184 1). The latter point, together with the 'particular interest principle', are used to argue for the necessary condition, viz. that the entity have, at least once, the concept of a continuing self or mental substance, which something must fulfil in order that it possess a right to life (Feinberg 184 10).

Tooley then explores the implications which the latter statement has for the morality of abortion and infanticide. He points out that if, as most philosophers do, one sees the mind and brain as being closely related, then when human development, both behavioural and neurophysiological, is closely examined, it is seen to be most unlikely that human fetuses, or even newborn babies, possess any concept of a continuing self (Feinberg 184 10-11). What this means, according to Tooley, is that neither newborn babies nor foetuses have a right to life.

If, however, one chooses to hold that the mind is distinct from the brain, then, according to Tooley, this commits one either to the belief that it is possible to establish, by means of a purely metaphysical argument, that a human mind, with its mature capacities, is present in a human from conception onward or to the belief that it is a divinely revealed truth that human beings have minds from conception onward (Feinberg 184 11). He denies the validity of the former belief and points out that doubts about the existence of God create uncertainty about the validity of the latter belief. In addition, Tooley points out that the latter belief does not enjoy widespread acceptance either among religions or within the religion to which it belongs.

Interestingly, Tooley argues that adult members of certain nonhuman species have a right to life because he believes that some nonhuman animals are capable of envisaging a future for themselves, and of having desires about future states of themselves.. that anything which exercises these capacities has an interest in its own continued existence. And.. that having an interest in one's own continued existence is not merely a necessary, but also a sufficient, condition for having a right to life (Feinberg 184 1)

As far as infanticide is concerned, he makes the point that certain philosophers base their moral objections to infanticide on common moral intuitions since common moral intuitions deem infanticide to be morally wrong. Tooley himself argues that even if [one] grants, at least for the sake of argument, that moral intuitions are the final court of appeal regarding the acceptability of moral principles, the question of the morality of infanticide is not one that can be settled by an appeal to our intuitions concerning it (Feinberg 184 1). Any proper rejection of infanticide must, according to Tooley, be based on an impregnable argument. Tooley strongly denies the possibility of such an argument.

Tooley's book, Abortion and Infanticide, presents a sustained defence of the position on abortion and infanticide which he presented in his articles on these issues. It also deals with some of the criticisms made of his position on these issues. He offers us reasons why the standard objections to infanticide should be rejected and concludes, among other things, that in order for the issues to be satisfactorily resolved, there must be much closer co-operation between, on the one hand, philosophers working in this area of ethics, and, on the other, scientists working in areas such as psychology and neurophysiology (Tooley 18 45).

III

Francis Beckwith finds four ethical problems with Thomson's analogy. Firstly, he tells us that in using the violinist as a paradigm for all relationships, which implies that moral obligations must be voluntarily accepted in order to have moral force, Thomson mistakenly infers that all true moral obligations to one's offspring are voluntary (Beckwith 1 111). Beckwith contends that in an unwanted pregnancy the reluctant father has involuntary obligations to his offspring because of the fact that he engaged in an act, sexual intercourse, which he fully realised could result in the creation of another human being, although he took every precaution to avoid such a result (Beckwith 1 111).

Secondly, he tells us that Thomson's volunteerism, above discussed, opposes family morality,

which has as one of its central beliefs that an individual has special personal obligations to his offspring and family which he does not have to other persons (Beckwith 1 11).

He goes on to say that even if Thomson sees the concept of family as being oppressive towards women,

a great number of ordinary men and women, who have found joy, happiness and love in family life, find Thomson's volunteerism to be counter-intuitive (Beckwith 1 11).

Thirdly, he argues that one can establish that the foetus has a prima facie right to the mother's body on the grounds that the foetus is something which is dependent on its mother, that this stage of a human being's natural development takes place in the womb, that the foetus, when born, has a natural claim upon its parents that they care for it, even if it is the case that they never actually wanted it, and, finally, that there is no reason to deny the foetus a natural prima facie right to its mother's body if, as Thomson allows, it is fully human prior to birth.

Fourthly, he argues that abortion is not simply the withholding if treatment for the foetus, but is in fact the killing of the foetus. He makes the point that calling abortion the 'withholding of support or treatment' makes about as much sense as calling suffocating someone with a pillow the withdrawing of oxygen (Beckwith 1 116).

Quite apart from all of the above criticisms, Beckwith is fundamentally opposed to Thomson's use of the violinist analogy as is clear from the following passage

It is evident that Thomson's violinist illustration undermines the deep natural bond between mother and child by making it seem no different than two strangers artificially hooked-up to each other so that one can steal the service of the other's kidneys. Never has something so human, so natural, so beautiful, and so wonderfully demanding of our human creativity and love been reduced to such a brutal caricature (Beckwith 1 114).

IV

Kenneth R. Pahel, in an article entitled Michael Tooley on Abortion and Potentiality, argues that as far as the right to life or, to use Tooley's term, the right to continued existence is concerned, foetuses and newborn infants are beings that will, unless prevented, develop the particular interests, desires, and supporting concepts protected by this right in a normal healthy process of maturation, and that, consequently, it is not actually having desires at some time that is essential, but the potentiality for naturally acquiring these desires and concepts that constitutes the necessary condition for being a holder of certain rights (Pahel 187 4).

In my view, Tooley must be complemented for investigating what it is that separates human beings from other animals. Our capacity for self-consciousness does indeed serve to separate us from other animals. However, our capacity for morality also serves to distinguish us from other animals. In other words, we can behave morally towards animals by becoming vegetarian or by becoming more humane in our treatment of animals, and towards nature in general by becoming more environmentally aware. Morality, I believe, seeks to include rather than exclude.

I do not agree with Tooley's assertion that self-consciousness alone ensures that something has a serious right to life. Tooley argues that only those things which can have an interest in continuing to exist can have a right to continue to exist. Interests, however, Tooley tells us, presuppose desires. In other words, it cannot be in a thing's interest to continue to exist if it is incapable of desiring to continue to exist. It is my belief, however, that even though plants cannot have desires, it is morally objectionable for someone to argue that because of the latter inadequacy they have no right to continue to exist. I am not denying that Tooley has made some important points about what it means to be a rights holder. I am, however, saying that Tooley has not exclusively defined what a rights holder is.

V

Shannon M. Jordan, in an article entitled The Moral Community and Persons, suggests that rather than trying to define what person is and thereby establishing which human beings are members of the moral community, we should invert the order of reasoning to first determine the meaning of moral community, for then we will already understand who is a person (Jordan 186 10). The following passage outlines Jordan's essential characteristics of human life

Human life is not and cannot be solitary; it is always lived in community; it is a life in which persons are bound together by rational intentions and actions which constitute their relationships with each other and thus form their moral commitments. The bond formed thereby is a fundamental moral bond which sets persons in moral relationships with each other, constituting them as moral persons. This bond is forged in those circumstances which are fundamentally constitutive of the moral life; birth, nurture, and the community in which one, normally by choice, lives shared lives. In two of these, i.e. birth and nurture, the self is constituted as a moral person through no choice of one's own; only in the third circumstance are some capable of choosing in an autonomous or self-constituting way (Jordan 186 10).

Jordan criticises moral theories which focus on the rational autonomous individual and which hold that, as far as the foetus, the neonate, the infant, the retarded, the insane, the comatose, and the senile are concerned, we should act in such a way as to respect the person one has been or might become, but that failure to do so cannot be as serious an offense as failure to respect the autonomy of a fully competent or rational person (Jordan 186 110). Jordan argues that such theories fail to recognise that it is the moral community which creates persons rather than vice versa. In other words, human beings do not exist in a relational vacuum; they exist through relationships with others. In short, it can be said that the morality of nurturance governs our relationships with foetuses, infants, children and adults. Furthermore, a study of phenomenology coupled with cultural anthropology leads Jordan to conclude that human survival, both individually and as a species, necessarily requires prescribed patterns of belief, behaviour and relationships - which is to say that human being is always being in a moral community (Jordan 186 11).

Jordan goes on to make the point that infant survival depends on human action which itself reflects rational intentions. In particular, Jordan tells us that the infant is a person not because of his future ability to exhibit rational intentionality but because in his infant incompetency the very contingency of his existence is based on membership in a community of rationally intending persons (Jordan 186 114). In other words, Jordan is saying that because the infant only possesses a non-rational self which cannot act with rational intention, it depends upon the 'other' self, viz. the moral community, to act with rational intention on his or her behalf. What this means is that the term 'person' does not refer to some grouping within the human species but that any human being is necessarily being person-in-relation, member-of-moral-community, self-in-the-life-world-of-other-selves (Jordan 186 116).

I find Jordan's article highly persuasive because it seems to square strongly with our moral intuitions about the vulnerable in society. It also allows us to get around Tooley's principle which excludes foetuses and newborns from the realm of persons due to their inability to act rationally by arguing that foetuses and newborns are persons because we, the moral community, are their rational selves until such time as they acquire their rational selves. Moreover, if they can never be said to have acquired their rational selves, then we continue to be their rational or 'other' selves.

Another definition of personhood is provided by Marjorie Reiley Maguire who tells us that the point at which personhood begins is the point when the mother accepts the pregnancy. She argues that when the mother accepts the pregnancy, the foetus' potentiality for relationality and sociality is activated, because it is brought into a personal relationship with a human person, with the only human person who can actuate this potentiality while the fetus is still in the mother's body and in a previable state (Reiley Maguire 185 8). Reiley Maguire echoes the remarks of Shannon M. Jordan in the following extract

The fetus cannot become related to the human social community except through the mediation of the mother. It is the mother who makes the fetus a social being by accepting its relatedness to her. Thus, it is the mother who makes the fetus a person (Reiley Maguire 185 8).

She goes on to tell us that she would demand that the brain and central nervous system were developed to the extent that the foetus was almost viable before she would say that a biological reality existed which presumed consent of the mother to the pregnancy (Reiley Maguire 185 41). Reiley Maguire opts for viability as the cut-off point while, at the same time, recognising that viability is itself a shifting area and, in fact, is not even purely biological but is itself dependent on society's standards as technology allows society to take over biology (Reiley Maguire 185 41). She points out that when the foetus becomes viable, it no longer needs the mother to establish a relationship for it with the human social community.

Paul Gomberg takes up the notion of nurturance discussed by Jordan and argues that instead of being a dispute about when a foetus becomes a person, the abortion controversy is a dispute about the morality of nurturance. Gomberg suggests that the abortion controversy derives less from disagreement about how to apply the principle prohibiting the killing of another person and more from the part of our morality that concerns parental duties of nurturance of the young what are our duties to our offspring? When do those duties take hold? (Gomberg 10 514)

Gomberg claims that the suggestion that the abortion controversy concerns the morality of nurturance highlights the following issues

It gives a better articulation of the objection to abortion than the claim that abortion is murder; it allows us to understand why many believe that later abortions are morally more problematic than earlier ones; it puts the issue of abortion in the context of the morality that governs family life; and, most important, it allows us to understand why there is, on the one hand, a connection between conservatism on abortion and traditional women's roles and, on the other, a connection between liberalism and affirmation of equality between men and women (Gomberg 10 514).

According to Gomberg, it is more appropriate to describe abortion as a failure to nurture than to describe it as an act of murder, because the issue of abortion involves duties towards offspring rather than duties towards adults. In other words, moral relations between adults are characterised by a principle forbidding one person from killing another person whereas moral relations between parents and their offspring are characterised by a principle entailing that parents nurture their offspring until they become self-sufficient. Gomberg also makes the point that because abortion as an issue involves moral relations between adults and their offspring, philosophers such as Michael Tooley are misguided in their approach to and solution of the problems of abortion and infanticide. Gomberg himself expresses the latter point as follows

I doubt that the morality of nurturance is derivable from principles governing moral relations between adults, the principle prohibiting killing of another person being paradigmatic of morality between adults. Hence I doubt the significance of both the attempts to derive a prohibition on abortion from potential to become an adult like ourselves, and the vindications of abortion which rely on criticisms of such arguments. Since the purpose of the present paper is only to understand the abortion debate, I adopt, methodically, a moral intuitionism which articulates the moral imperatives commonly accepted in our culture (Gomberg 185 515).

Gomberg echoes the remarks of Marjorie Reiley Maguire when he says that the morality of nurturance takes over when a woman accepts her pregnancy. Gomberg argues that if we accept that a woman's chief role is to bear and nurture children, then the woman is morally required to accept her pregnancy from the moment of conception. He also argues, however, that if we accept that a woman's chief role is not to bear and nurture children, then the woman can choose either to accept or to reject her pregnancy. On the other hand, Gomberg points out that while most of us believe that early abortions appear to be in line with the morality of nurturance, most of us believe that later abortions are morally and emotionally more problematic because although there is no precise point at which it is clear that the morality of nurturance must apply to the fetus, it is clear that the longer we wait to abort, the more like a baby is the thing we destroy (Gomberg 10 51).

Gomberg is highly critical of conservatives who see women as being more biologically suited to being mothers and childbearers than to being members of a world of recognised employment. This emphasis on the servile status of women is, as he points out, highly demeaning for women. Keeping the latter point in mind, Gomberg concludes his article by offering a twofold solution to the problem of abortion

First, instead of allowing the communism of the family to be undermined by the competitiveness of the capitalist order, the egalitarianism and commitment to others that characterize family relations at their best should be spread to the larger world. Second, nurturing attitudes can represent morality rather than servility in a world where they are cultivated equally among adults; the duties of nurturance must fall equally on men. But where much of our social life is governed by market imperatives, it becomes impossible to share nurturing equally among men and women. This suggests that a satisfactory solution to the problems surrounding the abortion issue will require changing the economic structures of our society. The moral problems of abortion are really social problems of capitalist society (Gomberg 10 54).

Jordan, Reiley Maguire, and Gomberg analyse the issues of abortion and infanticide as they are experienced by women. They do not parade elaborate hypothetical examples before our eyes to support their argument because, unlike Thomson, they do not need to do so. They adopt a pragmatic approach to the question of personhood which allows for variation in terms of defining the term 'person'. In other words, they accept that personhood of the foetus occurs for different people at different stages of foetal development. All are agreed, however, that as the foetus approaches viability, it becomes less and less morally permissible for it to be aborted. Consequently, then, they are prepared to accept early abortions, they are strongly disinclined to accept abortions which occur close to the point at which the foetus becomes viable, and they are not prepared to accept abortions which occur from the moment that the foetus becomes viable.

Although Jordan, Reiley Maguire, and Gomberg adopt a moderate or developmental approach to the issue of abortion, they acknowledge that the mother can choose to recognise the foetus as a person prior to viability. From that point on, then, we, the moral community, must also recognise this foetus as a person. In other words, we must recognise this foetus as something which is as deserving of our respect as is any other human being with which we might come in contact.

In conclusion, then, it is my belief that philosophers can make significant contributions to the abortion debate but only if they are prepared to approach the issue of abortion in terms of how it is actually experienced by the people involved. If philosophers choose to follow the approaches made by Judith Jarvis Thomson and Michael Tooley, then I think that no significant advances will or can be made towards resolving this issue of abortion.

Resolving the issue of abortion involves, in my view, trying to look at the issue from the perspective of the beings involved, viz. the mother and foetus. When we do this, we will, I think, see that the abortion issue is not about the rights which we as adults have against each other or about the capacities which we as persons have to make rational decisions, but that it is about the duties which we as adults have towards our offspring.

Abortion, as Paul Gomberg points out, can only morally occur if it occurs in accordance with the morality of nurturance. According to the morality of nurturance, we have, Gomberg tells us, a duty to take care of our offspring until they become self sufficient. When do these duties of nurturance take hold? This is a difficult question to answer as they appear to take hold at different times for different people. It is not my intention here to attempt to answer this question except to say that an ethic of nurturance allows for a plurality of answers as opposed to one single answer to this question.

Notwithstanding the latter statement, however, an ethic of nurturance such as we have encountered morally prohibits infanticide on the grounds that at viability and, consequently, at birth a person unquestionably exists which has as much a right to life as any other person whereas prior to viability an organism exists which one is not morally required to recognise as a person, even though one may wish to do so.

It will of course be noted that my brief survey of philosophical approaches to the issue of abortion has yielded no definitive answer, but this is, I think, a measure of the philosophical complexity of the issue, and, at any rate, with a paper of this size I can only hope to present a selective outline of the issues of abortion and infanticide as seen through the eyes of certain philosophers.

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