Ethical Problems of Gambling
Ethical Problems of Gambling
Eva Bohannon
SOC120: Introduction to Ethics & Social Responsibility
Instructor: Nadine Acevedo
May 26, 2014
Ethical Problems of Gambling
1
Looking at the ethical view of gambling through the eyes of Utilitarianism and
Deontology perspectives we will find 2 very different views with the same outcome. Should there be any restriction of gambling? Is it a form of freedom, or an invitation to addiction?
George Washington said: “Gambling is the child of avarice, the brother of iniquity, and the father of mischief.” Benjamin Franklin advised: “Keep flax from fire, and youth from gaming.” There is all kinds of gambling these days, there is internet gaming, sports wagers, casinos, animal fighting , and many other ways , we can even gamble in the stock market.
Utilitarianism suggest that we do what’s right for the most people involved. As I think about that statement the only entity that gambling really helps is the corporation that is presenting the gambling opportunity itself. Money that could be invested, loaned, and recycled through the economy is instead risked in a legalized gambling scheme. Legalized gambling siphons off a lot of money from the economy. More money is wagered on gambling than is spent on elementary and secondary education ($286 billion versus $213 billion in 1990). Historian John
Ezel concludes in his book, Fortune 's Merry Wheel, "If history teaches us anything, a study of over 1300 legal lotteries held in the United States proves...they cost more than they brought in if their total impact on society is reckoned."
What is better for the good of society would be to stop gambling all together because only a handful of people may win enough to actually help them in anyway at all. Sports gambling has affected sports by introducing organized crime into the sporting arena. Past scandals at Boston College or Tulane illustrate how gambling has adversely affected the integrity of athletes, coaches, and colleges. Players have
Eva Bohannon
SOC120: Introduction to Ethics & Social Responsibility
Instructor: Nadine Acevedo
May 26, 2014
Ethical Problems of Gambling
1
Looking at the ethical view of gambling through the eyes of Utilitarianism and
Deontology perspectives we will find 2 very different views with the same outcome. Should there be any restriction of gambling? Is it a form of freedom, or an invitation to addiction?
George Washington said: “Gambling is the child of avarice, the brother of iniquity, and the father of mischief.” Benjamin Franklin advised: “Keep flax from fire, and youth from gaming.” There is all kinds of gambling these days, there is internet gaming, sports wagers, casinos, animal fighting , and many other ways , we can even gamble in the stock market.
Utilitarianism suggest that we do what’s right for the most people involved. As I think about that statement the only entity that gambling really helps is the corporation that is presenting the gambling opportunity itself. Money that could be invested, loaned, and recycled through the economy is instead risked in a legalized gambling scheme. Legalized gambling siphons off a lot of money from the economy. More money is wagered on gambling than is spent on elementary and secondary education ($286 billion versus $213 billion in 1990). Historian John
Ezel concludes in his book, Fortune 's Merry Wheel, "If history teaches us anything, a study of over 1300 legal lotteries held in the United States proves...they cost more than they brought in if their total impact on society is reckoned."
What is better for the good of society would be to stop gambling all together because only a handful of people may win enough to actually help them in anyway at all. Sports gambling has affected sports by introducing organized crime into the sporting arena. Past scandals at Boston College or Tulane illustrate how gambling has adversely affected the integrity of athletes, coaches, and colleges. Players have
References: A. Bechara, H. Damasio, D. Tranel & A. R. Damasio (1997) Gambling and decisionmaking: A dual process perspective. Science 275:1293-95. Coventry, Kenny R A dual process perspective Coventry, Kenny R. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 31.4 (Aug 2008): 444-445 J. St. B. T. Evans (2003) Gambling and decision-making: A dual process perspective. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 7:454-459. R. W. Wiers & A. W. Stacy, eds (2006b) Gambling and decision-making: A dual process perspective McKenna, David. 1973. Gambling: Parasite on Public Morals. Christianity Today, June 8. Charles T. Clotfelter and Philip J. Cook, Selling Hope: State Lotteries in America (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1991), 123-127. Downs, C, & Woolrych, R (2010). Gambling and debt: The hidden impacts on family and work life Lesieur, HR (1998). Costs and treatment of pathological gambling. The Annals of the American Academy, 556, 153–171 Franklin, J, & Thoms, DR In Shaffer H (Ed.) (1989). Clinical observations of family members of compulsive gamblers