PHIL 2600 Lecture 8: Unit Eight Prof notes
10 Mar 2017
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Document Summary
Commonplace argument that businesses are best served by treating their customers well. So why continued ethical abuses of consumers and poor reputation of marketing and sales professions. Examples of organizations accused of treating customers in a questionable manner. Inalienabale entitlements to fair treatment when entering into exchanges with sellers. They rest upon the assumption that consumer dignity should be respected, and that sellers have a duty to treat consumers as ends in themselves, and not only as means to the end of the seller. In the past, consumer rights based on caveat emptor. But caveat emptor eroded by changing expectations and consumer laws. At the most basic level, consumers have a right to products and services which are safe, efficacious, and fit for the purpose for which they are intended. Manufacturers ought to exercise due care in establishing that all reasonable steps are taken to ensure that their products are free from defects and safe to use.
