9/4/23, 1:13 AM Moral Philosophy - Ethics Unwrapped

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ETHICS DEFINED

MORAL PHILOSOPHY
Moral Philosophy studies what is right and wrong, and
related philosophical issues.

MORAL PHILOSOPHY
Moral philosophy is the branch of philosophy that
contemplates what is right and wrong. It explores the nature
of morality and examines how people should live their lives
in relation to others.

Moral philosophy has three branches.

One branch, meta-ethics , investigates big picture questions

such as, “What is morality?” “What is justice?” “Is there
truth?” and “How can I justify my beliefs as better than
conflicting beliefs held by others?”

Another branch of moral philosophy is normative ethics . It

answers the question of what we ought to do. Normative
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9/4/23, 1:13 AM Moral Philosophy - Ethics Unwrapped

ethics focuses on providing a framework for deciding what

is right and wrong. Three common frameworks are
deontology, utilitarianism, and virtue ethics.

The last branch is applied ethics . It addresses specific,

practical issues of moral importance such as war and capital
punishment. Applied ethics also tackles specific moral
challenges that people face daily, such as whether they
should lie to help a friend or co-worker.

So, whether our moral focus is big picture questions, a

practical framework, or applied to specific dilemmas, moral
philosophy can provide the tools we need to examine and
live an ethical life.

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9/4/23, 1:17 AM Consequentialism - Ethics Unwrapped

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ETHICS DEFINED

CONSEQUENTIALISM
Consequentialism is an ethical theory that judges an action’s
moral correctness by its consequences.

CONSEQUENTIALISM
Consequentialism is an ethical theory that judges whether
or not something is right by what its consequences are. For
instance, most people would agree that lying is wrong. But if
telling a lie would help save a person’s life, consequentialism
says it’s the right thing to do.

Two examples of consequentialism are utilitarianism and

hedonism. Utilitarianism judges consequences by a
“greatest good for the greatest number” standard.
Hedonism, on the other hand, says something is “good” if
the consequence produces pleasure or avoids pain.

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9/4/23, 1:17 AM Consequentialism - Ethics Unwrapped

Consequentialism is sometimes criticized because it can be

difficult, or even impossible, to know what the result of an
action will be ahead of time. Indeed, no one can know the
future with certainty. Also, in certain situations,
consequentialism can lead to decisions that are
objectionable, even though the consequences are arguably
good.

For example, let’s suppose economists could prove that the

world economy would be stronger, and that most people
would be happier, healthier, and wealthier, if we just
enslaved 2% of the population. Although the majority of
people would benefit from this idea, most would never agree
to it. However, when judging the idea solely on its results, as
classic consequentialism does, then “the end justifies the
means.”

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9/4/23, 1:21 AM Deontology - Ethics Unwrapped

ETHICS DEFINED

DEONTOLOGY
Deontology is an ethical theory that uses rules to discern
the moral course of action.

DEONTOLOGY
Deontology is an ethical theory that uses rules to distinguish
right from wrong. Deontology is often associated with
philosopher Immanuel Kant. Kant believed that ethical
actions follow universal moral laws, such as “Don’t lie. Don’t
steal. Don’t cheat.”

Deontology is simple to apply. It just requires that people

follow the rules and do their duty. This approach tends to fit
well with our natural intuition about what is or isn’t ethical.

Unlike consequentialism, which judges actions by their

results, deontology doesn’t require weighing the costs and
benefits of a situation. This avoids subjectivity and
uncertainty because you only have to follow set rules.

Despite its strengths, rigidly following deontology can

produce results that many people find unacceptable. For
example, suppose you’re a software engineer and learn that
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9/4/23, 1:21 AM Deontology - Ethics Unwrapped

a nuclear missile is about to launch that might start a war.

You can hack the network and cancel the launch, but it’s
against your professional code of ethics to break into any
software system without permission. And, it’s a form of lying
and cheating. Deontology advises not to violate this rule.
However, in letting the missile launch, thousands of people
will die.

So, following the rules makes deontology easy to apply. But

it also means disregarding the possible consequences of our
actions when determining what is right and what is wrong.

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9/4/23, 1:26 AM Hedonism - Ethics Unwrapped

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ETHICS DEFINED

HEDONISM
Hedonism is a form of consequentialism that approves of
actions that produce pleasure and avoid pain.

HEDONISM
Hedonism is the belief that pleasure, or the absence of pain,
is the most important principle in determining the morality
of a potential course of action. Pleasure can be things like
“sex, drugs, and rock ’n’ roll,” but it can also include any
intrinsically valuable experience like reading a good book.

Hedonism is a type of consequentialism, and it has several

forms. For example, normative hedonism is the idea that
pleasure should be people’s primary motivation. On the other
hand, motivational hedonism says that only pleasure and
pain cause people to do what they do.

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9/4/23, 1:26 AM Hedonism - Ethics Unwrapped

Egotistical hedonism requires a person to consider only his

or her own pleasure in making choices. Conversely, altruistic
hedonism says that the creation of pleasure for all people is
the best way to measure if an action is ethical.

Regardless of the type of hedonism, critics fault it as a

guide for morality because hedonism ignores all other
values, such as freedom or fairness, when evaluating right
and wrong.

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9/4/23, 1:30 AM Utilitarianism - Ethics Unwrapped

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ETHICS DEFINED

UTILITARIANISM
Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that asserts that right and
wrong are best determined by focusing on outcomes of
actions and choices.

UTILITARIANISM
Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that determines right from
wrong by focusing on outcomes. It is a form of
consequentialism.

Utilitarianism holds that the most ethical choice is the one

that will produce the greatest good for the greatest number.
It is the only moral framework that can be used to justify
military force or war. It is also the most common approach to
moral reasoning used in business because of the way in
which it accounts for costs and benefits.

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9/4/23, 1:30 AM Utilitarianism - Ethics Unwrapped

However, because we cannot predict the future, it’s difficult

to know with certainty whether the consequences of our
actions will be good or bad. This is one of the limitations of
utilitarianism.

Utilitarianism also has trouble accounting for values such as

justice and individual rights. For example, assume a hospital
has four people whose lives depend upon receiving organ
transplants: a heart, lungs, a kidney, and a liver. If a healthy
person wanders into the hospital, his organs could be
harvested to save four lives at the expense of one life. This
would arguably produce the greatest good for the greatest
number. But few would consider it an acceptable course of
action, let alone the most ethical one.

So, although utilitarianism is arguably the most reason-

based approach to determining right and wrong, it has
obvious limitations.

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9/4/23, 1:34 AM Virtue Ethics - Ethics Unwrapped

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ETHICS DEFINED

VIRTUE ETHICS
Virtue Ethics is a normative philosophical approach that
urges people to live a moral life by cultivating virtuous
habits.

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.

This character-based approach to morality assumes that we

acquire virtue through practice. By practicing being honest,
brave, just, generous, and so on, a person develops an
honorable and moral character. According to Aristotle, by
honing virtuous habits, people will likely make the right
choice when faced with ethical challenges.

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9/4/23, 1:34 AM Virtue Ethics - Ethics Unwrapped

To illustrate the difference among three key moral

philosophies, ethicists Mark White and Robert Arp refer to
the film The Dark Knight where Batman has the opportunity
to kill the Joker. Utilitarians, White and Arp suggest, would
endorse killing the Joker. By taking this one life, Batman
could save multitudes. Deontologists, on the other hand,
would reject killing the Joker simply because it’s wrong to
kill. But a virtue ethicist “would highlight the character of
the person who kills the Joker. Does Batman want to be the
kind of person who takes his enemies’ lives?” No, in fact, he
doesn’t.

So, virtue ethics helps us understand what it means to be a

virtuous human being. And, it gives us a guide for living life
without giving us specific rules for resolving ethical
dilemmas.

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