Moral Philosophy And Its Strength And Weaknesses

This paper is going to discuss Ethics and Ethical Theories. It will include an introduction to ethical theories, virtue ethics, and care ethics. There will be sections discussing absolutism versus relativism, consequentialism versus deontological ethics, and lastly, free will versus determinism. It will also include a discussion about the study of morality and identify which of the approaches (Scientific, Philosophical, or Theological/Religious) are closest to my own personal beliefs. There will be a discussion regarding the three sources of ethics

Deontology is an ethical theory concerned with duties and rights. The founder of deontological ethics was a German philosopher named Immanuel Kant. Kant’s deontological perspective implies people are sensitive to moral duties that require or prohibit certain behaviors, irrespective of the consequences (Tanner, Medin, & Iliev, 2008). The main focus of deontology is duty: deontology is derived from the Greek word deon, meaning duty. A duty is morally mandated action, for instance, the duty never to lie and always to keep your word. Based on Kant, even when individuals do not want to act on duty they are ethically obligated to do so (Rich, 2008).

Personal values, beliefs, and principles are important for individuals to know about themselves. However, when asked the question, “what are your personal values, beliefs, and principles?” The first response is often a laundry list of characteristics with the assumption that those three words are synonymous. From my experience when posed this question the laundry list became long and in retrospect, I began to wonder what the differences were between each of these terms. As a teacher, employee, mother, and Christian knowing these differences and how to answer the question is an important component of determining how I make decisions when faced with ethical dilemmas. Hence, began the investigation of how the terms relate, their meaning and what my answer is to this question. Since my laundry list was quite long for this essay, I will share and explain the top two elements for each category, how they relate to one another and how the knowledge influences tough decisions.

"(i) Duty Based Theories (or Deontological Theories): Theories that claim that what determines whether an act is morally right or wrong is the kind of act it is."(1)

In Normative Ethics there are three distinct schools of thought, and each differentiate through moral intentions. Consequentialism relies on the consequences of an action in order to distinguish whether or not something is morally acceptable. Deontology considers the morality of an action by one’s reason for doing a certain deed. Lastly, virtue ethics bases morality off of virtuous character, and how a virtuous person would act given a certain predicament. Ultimately, consequentialism provides the most practical explanation for morality due to the notion of providing the best possible result. Contrarily, deontology and virtue ethics do not always provide an individual with the most sensible course of action, and therefore prove to be

I live by a moral philosophy that serves as a framework to make sound ethical decisions. My moral philosophy consists of an equilibrium between three ethical perspectives: virtue, duty, and outcome. I incorporate the three ethical perspectives because their fusion enables me to produce the best possible ethical decisions. As an Army leader, complexity is certain to exist in the future.

The first ethical theory is Utilitarianism. Utilitarianism is the ethical theory that describes how the moral value or worth of an action is determined by how much benefit is gained from that action. It is measured by not only the amount of benefit gained but also

Moral and ethics defines the nature of our society and culture today. They are both complimentary in nature but different in some ways. Moral determines person’s character when an individual interacts in social and personal relationship and Ethics are the philosophical study of morality or moral standards. Utilitarian theory, Virtue ethics, and Deontological are some of the examples of major ethical theories that covered in this essay. Collaboration on personal experiences added as well by explaining the relationship between virtue, values, and moral concepts.

| |A description of the differences in how each theory addresses ethics and morality | | |

The principles may include: The Utilitarianism by John Stuart Mill declares that morally right decisions are those that result in ‘happiness for the greatest number. ' Kant 's Duty Defined Morality explains how acts performed out of duty have moral worth. Aristotle 's Virtue Ethics dictates that moderation is the best course. Divine Command theory holds that proper decisions follow God 's will. And lastly, Natural Law id grounded in the notion of an eternal law (in God). According to this paper, the Kant 's Duty Defined Morality is better than the other ethical theories.

They are preconventional, conventional and post conventional. Two types of moral theory are moral relativists which claim that people create reality and that there are no universal or shared moral principles that apply to all and moral universalists, which claim that there are universal moral principles that apply to all. The idea that morality is universal is deontology. Deontology claims that duty is the foundation of morality and that moral principles apply to everyone. The categorical imperative in the main concept of this theory. It states that “Act only on that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.” Virtue ethics are a part of the idea that morality is universal. Virtue ethics emphasizes character over right

We have learned about different kinds of theories, consequentialist and non-consequentialist we are going to see if these theories are accountable for its principles in terms of the standard ethical principles such as truth telling, generosity, misconduct, keeping promises, not offending people, etc. To me not all these theories are not 100% perfect and does not fully account for its principles.

1. Consequentialist moral theories see the moral rightness or wrongness of actions as a function of their results. If the consequences are sufficiently good, the action is right; if they are sufficiently bad, the action is wrong. However, nonconsequentialist theories see other factors as also relevant to the determination of right and wrong.

3.     Sir William David Ross’ Prima Facie Duties Theory: Ross believed that it was important to consider consequences when faced with a moral dilemma However, like Kant, he did not believe that consequences were the sole determination as to whether an action was right or wrong. Ross’ theory is considered a deontological theory because he believed that there is a set of rules that all people must obey in order to meet their moral obligations, regardless of the consequences.

Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a subject of philosophy that engages itself in systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong. It investigates questions of right and wrong and of the best way of living for people. In this essay I am going to explain the differences between the ethical schools of consequentialism, deontology, and virtue ethics and argue that in my opinion deontology is the most reasonable theory of the three.