Parable of the Sadhu Essay

Overall, deontology is based upon not just by following universal rules or performing what is ought to do, but by respecting human beings as rational beings as well. Deontology judges the ethical motive of an action not by its consequences, merely by the reasoning behind it.

“Deontology is a moral theory that emphasizes one’s duty to do a particular action just because the action, itself, is inherently right and not through any other sorts of calculations – such as the consequences of the action” (Boylan, 2009, p. 171). In many aspects deontology is contrasted with utilitarianism. Deontology is based upon principle and does not calculate the consequences (Boylan, 2009, p. 171). Deontology attracts those seeking a stronger moral attraction because it refers to commanding rather than commending and commanding is a stronger structure (Boylan, 2009, p. 172). The

Immanuel Kant's deonotological ethical theory assesses if actions are moral based on the person's will or intention of acting. Kant's theory can be categorized as a deonotological because "actions are not assessed to be morally

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).

Deontology or also know as Deontology ethics is an approach that is taken that determines the goodness and rightness of a specific act or rules and duties that a specific person has to perform. Deontology is the complete opposite of consequentialism. Consequentialism is the where the outcome of an act has a major influence and not the actual act itself. In better words it is what comes after the action that is made and not the action itself. As for deontology an action can be considered right or something acceptable even if the outcome of the action is something bad. A perfect example for deontology would be “ do onto others what you would have them do onto you.” This is just something that

Deontology is an ethical position that examines the morality of an action based on the action’s adherence to rule or rules. Many times is described as obligation or rule based ethics (Alexander). Therefore, the only actions that are considered moral are those that are performed solely for one’s duty to the moral law rather than one’s desire. Deontology is the school of thought that Kant comes from. Immanuel Kant was a critical figure in philosophy in the modern age. His work was the foundation of the most famous form of Deontology.

Under a general character-based approach, decisions result from a tendency to act in way that is virtuous. When faced with the moral decisions of daily life, a person of good character usually decides to do what is morally and socially acceptable without much consideration to the specifics of their situation because they are inclined to take action through a strong consideration of their character, as opposed to the consideration of the possible consequences and repercussions. The actions that are made are not dependent on the ever changing environment of the agent, but instead on the agent himself, whose character is evident through his tendencies and usual mannerisms. As a result, one following a character-based approach is consistent and

The Parable of the Sadhu is a story of men climbing the Himalayas that run into a moral dilemma. These are not just any men. These are groups of men from many different cultural backgrounds. As they are climbing the mountain they run into a nearly naked Indian holy man that is near death. The moral dilemma comes into play when they are forced to make the decision to backtrack down the mountain to save the man and probably never reach their ultimate goal, or ignore the needs of the desperate man in order to fulfill their personal desires. By looking at the situation and what the men did it is clear that they acted through the ethical thought process of egoism and social contract. They acted

Deontology is the ethical view that some actions are morally forbidden or permitted regardless of consequences. One of the most influential deontological philosophers in history is Immanuel Kant who developed the idea of the Categorical Imperative. Kant believed that the only thing of intrinsic moral worth is a good will. Kant says in his work Morality and Rationality “The good will is not good because of what it affects or accomplishes or because of it’s adequacy to achieve some proposed end; it is good only because of it’s willing, i.e., it is good of itself”. A maxim is the generalized rule that characterizes the motives for a person’s actions. For Kant, a will that is good is one that is acting by

out if the sadhu lived or died. I can attest, though, that the sadhu lives on in his story. He lives in

In the late 18th century one of the most influential philosophers by the name of Immanuel Kant introduced the third major ethical philosophy, Deontology. The basis behind Deontology is that people are duty bound to act morally by certain standards despite the outcome. Determining whether a person’s actions are morally right involves look at the intent of the actions. Like other ethic theories, Deontologist applies the golden rule of treating other people the way you would want them to treat you. Deontology can be broken down into three different theories: agent-centered, patient centered, and contractualist. Each branch of Deontology can be traced back in some way to Immanuel Kant. Can Deontology be applied to today’s society?

Immanuel Kant concerns himself with deontology, and as a deontologist, he believes that the rightness of an action depends in part on things other than the goodness of its consequences, and so, actions should be judged based on an intrinsic moral law that says whether the action is right or wrong – period. Kant introduced the Categorical Imperative which is the central philosophy of his theory of morality, and an understandable approach to this moral law. It is divided into three formulations. The first formulation of Kant’s Categorical Imperative states that one should “always act in such a way that the maxim of your action can be willed as a universal law of humanity”; an act is either right or wrong based on its ability to be

Here the question is what action promotes McCoy's & the hiker's interest. The main purpose of all the hikers was to travel to Nepal and have a "once in a life time experience". It is conceivable that this is consistent with everyone's best interests, while helping the Sadhu is clearly not. Action was ethical. However the fact that McCoy feels guilty reflects that he was unable to promote his long term interest. Hence it becomes ambiguous to justify his actions.

Deontology as promoted by Kant on the other hand denies that the right action is the one that produces the best consequences. It is based on a set of moral rules, and the right action is supposed to be the one that conforms with these rules, whereas certain other types of action are morally forbidden. Deontology seems to appeal to common sense as duties include special obligations to family and

The word deontology is derived from the Greek words deon, meaning duty or obligation, and logos, meaning science or study. This school of ethics looks at the acts we attempt to do, and holds that right becomes before good. This means that if an act is not right, it may not be undertaken, no matter how much good it produces; an act is judged not on its consequences but whether or not it follows from one’s duty. Deontology recognizes two different types of imperatives; hypothetical and categorical. The categorical imperative is the deontological way of doing ethics. An example of an hypothetical imperative is “if I want to have white teeth, then I should brush my teeth”, and example of a categorical imperative is “I should brush my teeth”. According to Kant one should act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law without contradiction. This means that when you want to steal something you should think about it as a universal law, and thereby give other people the right to steal from you. However, if stealing would be an universal law then private property would be impossible and you would be unable to steal. This is a contradiction, and the general rule in deontology therefore is that stealing is morally