Deontological, Teleological and Virtue Ethics

Normative ethical systems can generally be broken down into three categories:
deontological, teleological and virtue ethics. The first two are considered deontic or
action-based theories of morality because they focus entirely upon the actions which a
person performs. When actions are judged morally right based upon their
consequences, we have teleological or consequentialist ethical theory. When actions
are judged morally right based upon how well they conform to some set of duties, we
have a deontological ethical theory.

Whereas these first two systems focus on the question "What should I do?," the third
asks an entirely different question: "What sort of person should I be?" With this we have
a virtue-based ethical theory - it doesn't judge actions as right or wrong but rather the
character of the person doing the actions. The person, in turn, makes moral decisions
based upon which actions would make one a good person.

Deontology and Ethics or Deontological (Nonconsequentialist)

Deontological moral systems are characterized primarily by a focus upon adherence to
independent moral rules or duties. Thus, in order to make the correct moral choices, we
simply have to understand what our moral duties are and what correct rules exist
which regulate those duties. When we follow our duty, we are behaving morally.
When we fail to follow our duty, we are behaving immorally.

• Derived from the Greek word “deon” meaning “duty”. obligation or duty.
• The view that ethical judgments should be made through consideration of
intrinsic moral duties.
• Deontology is a category of normative ethical theories that encompasses any
theory which is primarily concerned with adherence to certain rules or duties.
• Consequences do NOT matter!
• Intention is relevant. I am acting a certain way only if I act for the right reason.
•
• Certain actions are right or wrong in themselves (intrinsically right / wrong)
regardless of the consequences.
• It looks at the intention of the person performing the act.
• Acts are intrinsically right or wrong because of some absolute law, perhaps laid
down by God, or because of a duty or obligation.
• Deontological theories hold that actions that are morally right are those in
accordance with certain rules, duties, rights, or maxims.
• Actions can be morally good required, permitted or forbidden.
Teleology and Ethics or Teleological (Consequentialism)
Teleological moral systems are characterized primarily by a focus on the consequences
which any action might have (for that reason, they are often referred to as
consequentlist moral systems, and both terms are used here). Thus, in order to make
correct moral choices, we have to have some understanding of what will result from our
choices. When we make choices which result in the correct consequences, then we are
acting morally; when we make choices which result in the incorrect consequences, then
we are acting immorally.

• Concerned with the END or CONSEQUENCES of an action to decide if it is right

or wrong. It is also called CONSEQUENTIALISM
• ‘Telos’ = end, goal, purpose in Greek.
• If the consequence of my action is pain and suffering, then the action is .....
• If the consequence of my action is happiness and love, then the action is .....
The view that ethical judgments should be made through consideration of the
goals, ends,

Virtue Ethics
Virtue ethics is a philosophy developed by Aristotle and other ancient Greeks. It is the
quest to understand and live a life of moral character. A virtue is an excellent trait of
character. These traits derive from natural internal tendencies, but need to be nurtured;
however, once established, they will become stable. Virtue ethics is a broad term for
theories that emphasize the role of character and virtue in moral philosophy rather than
either doing one’s duty or acting in order to bring about good consequences. Virtue
ethics not only deals with the rightness or wrongness of individual actions, it provides
guidance as to the sort of characteristics and behaviors’ a good person will seek to
achieve.
Virtue-based ethical theories place much less emphasis on which rules people should
follow and instead focus on helping people develop good character traits, such as
kindness and generosity. These character traits will, in turn, allow a person to make the
correct decisions later on in life. Virtue theorists also emphasize the need for people to
learn how to break bad habits of character, like greed or anger. These are called vices
and stand in the way of becoming a good person.
It may initially, be identified as the one that emphasizes the virtues, or moral character,
in contrast to the approach that emphasizes duties or rules (deontology) or that
emphasizes the consequences of actions (consequentialism or teological). Suppose it is
obvious that someone in need should be helped. A utilitarian will point to the fact that
the consequences of doing so will maximize well-being, a deontologist to the fact that, in
doing so the agent will be acting in accordance with a moral rule such as “Do unto
others as you would be done by” and a virtue ethicist to the fact that helping the person
would be charitable or benevolent.

Principles

Virtue ethics teaches:

  An action is only right if it is an action that a virtuous person would carry out in
the same circumstances.
 A virtuous person is a person who acts virtuously
 A person acts virtuously if they "possess and live the virtues"
 A virtue is a moral characteristic that a person needs to live well.

Most virtue theorists would also insist that the virtuous person is one who acts in a
virtuous way as the result of rational thought

Good points of virtue ethics

 It centres ethics on the person and what it means to be human
 It includes the whole of a person's life

Bad points of virtue ethics

 it doesn't provide clear guidance on what to do in moral dilemmas
o although it does provide general guidance on how to be a good person

o presumably a totally virtuous person would know what to do and we could

consider them a suitable role model to guide us
 there is no general agreement on what the virtues are
o and it may be that any list of virtues will be relative to the culture in which it
is being drawn up.

Normative Ethics
Begins by asking what things are good and what things are bad, and what kind of
behaviour is right and wrong. It decides how people ought to act, how moral choices
should be made and how the rules apply.
• Ethical theories.
• E.g. ‘Is telling the truth good?’ is a normative question.

Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism, in normative ethics, a tradition stemming from the late 18th- and 19th-
century English philosophers and economists Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart
Mill according to which an action is right if it tends to promote happiness and wrong if it
tends to produce the reverse of happiness—not just the happiness of the performer of
the action but also that of everyone affected by it.
Such a theory is in opposition to egoism, the view that a person should pursue his own
self-interest, even at the expense of others, and to any ethical theory that regards some
acts or types of acts as right or wrong independently of their consequences (see
deontological ethics).
Utilitarianism also differs from ethical theories that make the rightness or wrongness of
an act dependent upon the motive of the agent, for, according to the utilitarian, it is
possible for the right thing to be done from a bad motive.
Utilitarian’s may, however, distinguish the aptness of praising or blaming an agent from
whether the act was right. A sub-category of consequentialism in which the outcomes
are conceived primarily in terms of pleasure/happiness versus pain/suffering.
NOTE: ONE PERSON’S “PAIN” CAN BE ANOTHER’S “PLEASURE”

How does deontology differ from virtue ethics

• Act Guidance vs. character guidance
• Deontology and consequentialism provide act guidance, that is, they tell us
what sorts of actions we should take rather then what sort of people we
ought to become (Character Guidance)