This ethics system is intended to be precise and by the book. Early beginning of human civilization the word of the king is the law deontological greek word dein or deon meaning to be obligated or simply duty 4. If these rough connections hold, then weaknesses with those metaethical accounts most hospitable to deontology will weaken deontology as a normative theory of action. In this lesson, youll learn about aristotles philosophy of virtue ethics and kants deontological philosophy of ethics. In deontological ethics an action is considered morally good because of some characteristic of the action. The term deontology comes from the greek word deon, meaning duty. May 21, 2017 an explication of the group of normative ethical theories known as deontology, which focuses on duties, rights and obligations over consequences or virtues.
In other words, deontology falls within the domain of moral theories that guide and assess our choices of what we ought to do deontic theories. L03 deontology vs utilitarianism, the eternal battle psy. Hybrid moral frameworks moral philosophy is dominated by the distinction between deontology, or the justification of actions that conform to a particular set of duties, and consequentialism, or the justification of actions that advance a desirable set of outcomes. An explication of the group of normative ethical theories known as deontology, which focuses on duties, rights and obligations over consequences or. However, the divine command theory, also known as theological volunterism, is a form of deontological ethics, and a number of modern philosophers have also developed deontological ethical theories. Kant calls this general type of obligation a categorical imperative, that is, the action is imperative because it falls within a certain category. Kant and deontological theory immanuel kant was a moral philosopher. For example, suppose your friend is struggling in 8.
The theory of deontology states we are morally obligated to act in accordance with a certain set of principles and rules regardless of outcome. It just requires that people follow the rules and do their duty. In contemporary moral philosophy, deontology is one of those kinds of normative theories regarding which choices are morally required, forbidden, or permitted. Ethical deontology philosophy oxford bibliographies. The downfall of this ethical theory is that certain standards will always be subjective, especially when divine commands are included. A coffee shop owner who requires his employees to dress in black cannot be identified with the deontology theory simply because the. Deontological ethics i deontological ethics is often seen as the opposite of consequentialist ethics. Deontology is a theory that suggests actions are good or bad according to a clear set of rules. Much more demanding than the other titles in this section. Some deontologists have thus argued that these connections need not hold and that a naturalistrealist metaethics can ground a deontological ethics moore 2004. Descriptive theories aim to explain, predict, and control our behavior.
Kant believed that ethical actions follow universal moral laws, such as dont lie. Deontology is an ethical theory whose name is derived from the greek word deon, meaning duty or obligation. Joseph this book is a work in progress that is offered for free to anyone. Deontological ethics, in philosophy, ethical theories that place special emphasis on the relationship between duty and the morality of human actions. Deontology is often associated with philosopher immanuel kant. Jul 30, 2011 this is the main difference between utilitarianism and deontology. The imperative of a successful organization calls for the clutter of ethics and profitability. Kant and deontological theory essay 1226 words bartleby. What matters for virtue theory, more specifically, is the character of the agent. Deontologists believe that the goal of moral philosophy should be to figure out the rules for living a moral life and that once people know those rules they should follow them. In moral philosophy, deontological ethics or deontology from greek.
The purpose of this paper is to describe and explain major. Prescriptive moral theories explain whether or not those beliefs correspond to what. Rather, factors other than good outcomes determine the rightness of actions. The most famous deontological theory of ethics is that of the german philosopher immanuel kant. Difference between utilitarianism and deontology compare.
Deontology is a school of moral philosophy in which ethical behavior equals following rules. In contemporary moral philosophy, deontology is used most commonly to refer to moral conceptions which endorse several theses. Actions that obey these rules are ethical, while actions that do not, are not. The term deontology is derived from the greek deon, duty, and logos, science. On the other hand, deontology is not consequenceoriented in nature. Consequences of those actions are not taken into consideration. Because the action is the foundation of ethics, the pros and cons of deontological ethics do show us that society can benefit by having clear expectations for decisions. Thus, deontological ethics maintains that actions are not justified by their consequences. Pdf three general theories of ethics and the integrative. Deontological ethics is a theory of morality based on a nonconsequentialist view of people and moral decisionmaking.
Kantianism is a key version of the broader ethical perspective known as deontology. All of these attempts to combine deontology and consequentialism provide moral realists with a perfect opportunity to argue, quite explicitly, that liberal theory is both a theory of the right deontology and of the good teleology or consequentialism. Deontology dutybased ethics kant learning theories. Deontological ethics stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. Deontology kantian dutybased ethics seven pillars institute. This is not so much an overview on deontology in general as an introduction to kamms own view of deontology and her victimfocused, rightsbased defense of deontological constraints.
For example, if you want to know whether or not i believe. The word deontology comes from the greek roots deon, which means duty, and logos, which means science. In this sense, deontological theories cover a widerange of moral conceptions. Jun 25, 2019 deontology or deontological ethics is the branch of ethics in which people define what is morally right or wrong by the actions themselves, rather than referring to the consequences of those actions, or the character of the person who performs them. Its name comes from the greek word deon, meaning duty.
Differences between deontology and act utilitarianism. Deontology dutybased ethics kant one of the most influential ethical frameworks, deontology is focused on binding rules, obligation and duty to family, country, church, etc. A good will is one which acts from universalizable reasons immanuel kant 17241804. His theory, better known as deontological theory, holds that intent, reason, rationality, and good will are motivating factors in the ethical decision making process. These are the obligations to do certain types of actions. Deontology is an approach to ethics which adheres to the theory that an end does not justify the means while teleology is an approach to ethics that adheres to the theory that the end always justifies the means. Deontology holds that people act in an ethically acceptable way whenever they act in accordance with their duties and obligations.
Kant has three formulations of his categorical imperative. In addition to moral conceptions, deontologyis also used to refer to moral principles, or to moral rules, at all levels of generality. Deontology, or rulebased ethics, focuses on duty, and the ethical principles derived from generallyaccepted rules which guide actions. Teleology, utilitarianism, and christian ethics lisa sowle cahill boston college the aim of this essay is to clarify the models of moral thinking and doing called teleology and deontology, to gain understanding of utilitarianism as a subcategory of the former, and to explore the relation. Doing the right thing means to follow proper rules of behavior and, by doing so, promoting fairness and. Deontology is an ethical theory that uses rules to distinguish right from wrong. Using this perspective, researchers are said to be autonomous agents adopting positive values which give rise to a sense of moral duty spinello, 2003. Deontological ethics is an ethics system that judges whether an action is right or wrong based on a moral code. Deontology is also known as dutybased ethics while teleology is also known as resultsoriented ethics. Deontology, one of the most influential ethical frameworks proposed by immanuel kant, is focused on binding rules, obligation and duty to family, country, church, etc. Deontological ethics wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
As a part of general and practical ethics, business ethics focuses on moral or ethical principles. Jan 05, 2016 in contrast to the utilitarian concept, deontology is ethics of duty where the morality of an action depends on the nature of the action, i. The three competing approaches to ethical analysis are consequentialism, deontology, and virtue eth in consequentialist ethics, the moral content of an action is determined by the real and. Youll also learn how to distinguish between these two competing ethical. Apr 17, 2009 the following is an excerpt from article de1971 from the christian research institute. I where the consequentialist is concerned with the outcome of the action, the deonotologist is concerned with the nature of the action itself more speci cally, the rulelawreasonmaxim for which an action was taken. Utilitarianism also called consequentialism is a moral. This concept was introduced by a philosopher, immanuel kant and hence widely referred as kantian deontology. This ethical theory is most closely associated with german philosopher, immanuel kant.
Problems for deontology i once again, one of the ways we evaluate a normative ethic is if we think it generally tells us the right thing to do in various cases i once again, this evidence appears mixed i one noteworthy feature which may be considered bad or good is that the categorical imperative does not always say what to do. Deontological approaches in ethics usually contrasted with teleological approaches. To determine the moral status of an action, utilitarianism has us look at c, deontology b, and virtue theory a. Deontological ethics there are two major ethics theories that attempt to specify and justify moral rules and principles. According to deontology, there are certain absolute or nearly absolute ethical rules that must be followed for example, the rule that we must respect peoples privacy, and the rule that says we must respect other peoples right to make decisions about their own lives. Deontological ethics kantian ethics rests on two major claims.
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