Ethics of Death Note

Atty Yen Clavano

 Deontological Ethics
• In deontological ethics an action is considered morally good because
of some characteristic of the action itself not because the product of
the action is good
• Deontological ethics holds that at least some acts are morally
obligatory regardless of their consequences for human welfare
• Descriptive of such ethics are such expressions as “Duty for duty’s
sake,” “Virtue is its own reward,” and “Let justice be done though the
heavens fall.”
 Deontological Ethics
• first great philosopher to define deontological principles
was Immanuel Kant
• the 18th-century German founder of critical philosophy
• Kant held that nothing is good without qualification except a good
will, and a good will is one that wills to act in accord with
the moral law and out of respect for that law rather than out of
natural inclinations
 Deontological Ethics
The police’s point of view – Deontological Ethics

• The reason why many people opposed Kira’s slaughtering

was because that, simply put, murder is murder
• There is a line that is drawn where a human cannot turn
back once crossed. Regardless of the potential outcome,
killing is bad, and no good person shall kill
• The ends doesn’t justify the means
 Deontological Ethics
This follows the theory of Deontology:
the idea that the morally good person follows social rules and duties,
and that the intent and nature of the action is more important than
what comes from it
“Killing” is clearly not morally permissible

The bottom line is that killing is not okay, and since Kira can easily
engage in criminal genocide with no signs of remorse, he is clearly not a
morally upstanding character
 Teleological Ethics
• Also called consequentialist ethics or consequentialism
• Holds that the basic standard of morality is precisely the value of
what an action brings into being
 Utilitarian Ethics
• Utilitarianism is one of the most important and influential moral
theories of modern times
• Utilitarianism is an essay writing of Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart
Mill
 Utilitarian Ethics
There are three principles that serve as the basic axioms of utilitarianism:
1. Pleasure or Happiness Is the Only Thing That Truly Has Intrinsic Value
• "utility," which in this context does not mean "useful" but, rather, means
pleasure or happiness
• To say that something has intrinsic value means that it is simply good in
itself
• A world in which this thing exists, or is possessed, or is experienced, is
better than a world without it (all other things being equal)
• Intrinsic value contrasts with instrumental value
• Something has instrumental value when it is a means to some end
E.g. A screwdriver has instrumental value to the carpenter; it is not valued
for its own sake but for what can be done with it.
 Utilitarian Ethics
There are three principles that serve as the basic axioms of
utilitarianism:
2. Actions Are Right Insofar as They Promote Happiness, Wrong
Insofar as They Produce Unhappiness
• It makes utilitarianism a form of consequentialism since it says that
the morality of an action is decided by its consequences
• The more happiness is produced among those affected by the action,
the better the action is
• So, all things being equal, giving presents to a whole gang of children
is better than giving a present to just one. Similarly, saving two lives is
better than saving one life.
 Utilitarian Ethics
There are three principles that serve as the basic axioms of
utilitarianism:
3. Everyone's Happiness Counts Equally
• Two hundred years ago, it was a commonly held view that some lives,
and the happiness they contained, were simply more important and
valuable than others

E.g. the lives of masters were more important than slaves; the well-
being of a king was more important than that of a peasant.
 Light’s point of view – Utilitarian Ethics
• Light wants to remove criminals, because by doing so, it would
improve the world
• That is the philosophy that Light stands by when using his death note,
and although slightly psychologically damaged with a god complex
Light sincerely believes that he is doing good
• And it is hard to reject the statement : Criminals are bad, and the
removal of criminals would result in net good.