Utilitarianism, Deontological, And Virtue Ethics

Over the course we’ve studied three ethical theories, those theories are Kantian deontology, utilitarianism, and virtue ethics. These theories focus on different philosophies or views that are used to either explain or make a judgment in regards to what is considered right or wrong in a given situation. To begin with, ethical theories help explain why an individual believes that an action is right or wrong. It gives one an understanding of how an individual chooses to make ethical decisions. Which is why different ethical theories are not congruent with a different situation.

Ethics are moral principles that can be used to help guide peoples decisions. We are all different and therefore our beliefs and opinions differ. There are many ethical theories, and according to Panza and Potthast (n.d.) the following are some that are widely used. Virtue ethics is one theory which states that personality is the most important thing. Living an ethical life, acting right, requires that one develops and demonstrates the quality of courage, compassion, wisdom, and temperance. It also requires that greed, jealousy, and selfishness is avoided. Utilitarianism states that the amount of happiness and suffering created by a person’s actions is what matters the most. As a result, acting rightly includes maximizing the amount of

In the past few months I have been introduced to several different ethical theories, but three of those theories stood out in my mind, Deontological theory, Consequentialist ethics Rule Utilitarianism and Virtue Ethics theory. Deontological theory a non-consequentialist theory that does not accept consequences as the basis of right and wrong, but focus instead on our duties and intentions of one’s action. On the other hand, Rule Utilitarianism, a consequentialist theory that defines a morally right rule or practice as one that promotes overall good. Virtue ethics believes that one has to have specific character traits like loyalty, compassion and generosity that have moral values in a person without any underline principles or actions guiding them.

Ethics is the moral criteria that we as human beings have. They are the rules of the game that are supposed to guide us through our decision making in life and how to behave to one another as part of a society. However, there are different perspectives on how this criteria should be used, and when and whom they apply to. I will focus on the three most influential moral theories: virtue ethics, deontology, and utilitarianism. Although there are many great names of philosophers that fall in those theories, I will be discussing Aristotle, Kant, and Mill’s perspective, respectively.

In other words, it evaluates the desirability of a specific action based on the outcomes of that choice. A familiar guide for such a decision-making would be selecting the option that yields the greatest good for the greatest number of people, or the least harmful result. It demands that individuals judge their actions based on the significance or correctness of the outcome of it. That means if the outcome of an action is good, then the action can be ethical. On the other hand, if an action is wrong, then it is unethical (Tanner et al., 2007). According to George Moore (1965), a British philosopher, the “rightness” or “wrongness” of an action depends on its outcome (p. 80-83). The same holds true with other utilitarianists. George further states that an individual’s intentions or motives are irrelevant in evaluating the “rightness” or “wrongness” of their actions.

There are two major ethical theories, deontological and utilitarian. Both theories are based on moral rules. These theories attempt to justify the principles and moral rules. In every culture something is defined as either right or wrong, not just wrong or right as a whole. Every society must define what is right or wrong and no universal truths will exist across cultures, this is defined as moral relativism. What is right and what is wrong may be different to some people and it is influenced by where they live and the rules they learn. However morals refers to what is right and what is wrong to an individual’s own principles. The two major ethical theories are similar in that they both attempt to

Virtue ethics is one of the three major approaches in ethics. This approach of ethics emphasizes the virtues, or moral character, in contrast to other approaches which emphasizes duties or rules. Virtue ethics has three central concepts; virtue, practical wisdom, and eudemonia, however, these are often misunderstood. The three approaches of ethics are virtue ethics, consequentialist ethics, and deontology ethics. Each approach provides a different way to understanding ethics.

The third approach to ethics is situational ethics. This approach seems to be a compromise between legalistic and antinomian views as a situationist follows the rules of society, but will set them aside if love seems better served by doing so.

Utilitarianism and deontological theories have been known to be critical the organizational transformation of law enforcement. These theories or ethical perspectives help law enforcement officers to; identify and define problems, forces them to think systematically, encourages them to view issues through many different points or positions, and provides them white decision-making guidelines. Therefore, utilitarian and deontological ideological theories help guide law enforcement’s behavior and practices by making morally and ethical decisions, particularly when officers are being faced with ethical dilemmas.

To take an ethical approach to living I believe we must follow a duty-based and Common Good approach. The duty-based approach is associated with the philosopher Immanuel Kant. Kant argued that doing what is right is not about the consequences of our actions but about having the proper intention in performing the action. The categorical imperative is Kant famous formula for discovering our ethical duty. The categorical imperative states that we must act as if what we do is universal law for everyone else. The common good approach is associated with the philosopher Plato. Plato states that in our actions we should always do what is best for the most number of people.

The Unified Ethic according to Geuras and Garofalo is based on the compounding of several ethical methodologies. Of the four methodologies that is mentioned Teleology is the first discussed in detail, and relates heavily to happiness. The second is Deontology believes that we should act in a principled manner, and that this affects many aspects of our everyday life. Intuitionism, which believes that all humans should make decisions based on their own emotions. Lastly of the four is virtue theory which argues that in order to understand the decisions a person makes, then the entirety of that person should be evaluated. These four modes create an all-encompassing ethic according to Geuras, and Garofalo. They believe that the unified ethic can

Philosophy consists of two major theories which aim to deny and validate moral rules and principles: deontology and utilitarianism ethics. These two perspectives give philosophy its wide range of concepts and decisions to frame our lives, giving structure to what we believe is right and wrong. More often than not, these concepts bring argument to what has already been set in stone by tough, controversial philosophers such as Immanuel Kant and Jeremy Bentham due to the nature of the topics and sensitivity they cause. In this essay, I look to discuss the trolley example in relation to deontology and utilitarianism; what each of these concepts tells us about the best way to behave in the example, and concluding with which concept is right?

When talking about ethics it is hard to distinguish between ethics and morality. It is also hard to distinguish exactly what realm of ethics contributes to my everyday decisions. Ethics can be defined as “well-founded standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or specific virtues [and] ethics refers to the study and development of one's ethical standards” (Andre, Shanks, & Velasquez, 2010, para. 8-9). According to Psychology Today (2013) morality is, “ethics, evil, greed, sin, and conscience” (para. 1). “Morals can vary from person to person and culture

Kant’s theory of deontology and Mill’s theory of utilitarianism provide starkly different approaches to assigning moral value to ethical dilemmas, two modern dilemmas being commercial surrogacy and physician-assisted suicide. This essay will expound upon the process of deciding moral value within each ethical theory and then apply this decision process to the two ethical dilemmas. Arguments will be posited in support or in opposition to the proposed ethical dilemmas according to the ethical theories. The discussion will revolve around the theories as proposed by the specific authors mentioned above in their relevant works.

In South Park, South Park illustrates normative ethics in society and people. The characters and scenarios are well scripted to categorize the three main theories of normative ethics; utilitarianism, deontology and virtue ethics. The show constantly displays the universal mindsets of multiple people within various situations and how one effects the other and the world. Majority of these scenarios, virtue ethics brings about the best results for those within the South Park community and the main characters. In the following, I will argue why virtue ethics is the most effective theory to always follow of all theories and how always following a utilitarianism and deontology approach can cause conflict within oneself and society.