Discuss

1. How do you decide what the right thing to do is?
2. How do you want other people to decide what the right thing to do is?

Chances are that you make ethical decisions through….

Consequentialism

or

Deontology

Consequentialism

• The net result of the action is what determines if it is good or bad
• Impartial
• Utilitarianism, greatest pleasure for the greatest number of people, least suffering, consider all equally
• J.S. Mill
• The Harm Principle
• Can you think of any examples where you used this system?

Questions for Consequentialists

• How do we know if an outcome is good or bad?
• What should we measure?
• Happiness? Freedom? Justice?
• Is it okay to hurt one person to save others?
• What if we don’t yet know the consequences of our actions?
• What about intentions? Can people really be accidentally good or accidentally bad?

​

Deontology

• Rightness or wrongness is measured by evaluating the action itself
• Duties and obligations to others are considered
• Concrete dos and don’ts, no weighing of costs and benefits
• Evident in religion-based ethics
• Divine command theory
• Kant
• Categorical Imperative - formula of universalizability and formula of humanity
• Ex. lying is wrong

Questions for Deontologists

• Is there really any absolute moral rule that is true for every situation?
• What if a murderer comes to your door and asks if your mom is home? Is it okay to lie then?
• Can an act be right and still cause immense harm?
• Can you detach consequences from morality?

Discuss!

• Which of these views do you agree with more? Why?
• Do you see any problems with each system?
• Which of these views do you think our society is more based on?
• Should society be more consequentialist or more deontological?

​

​