DEONTOLOGY

CHAPTER 4
 DEONTOLOGY (DUTY AND AGENCY)

• DEONTOLOGY COMES FROM THE GREEK WORD DEON,

WHICH MEANS “BEING NECESSARY’
• IS AN ETHICAL THEORY THAT USES RULES TO DISTINGUISH
RIGHT FROM WRONG

• IS ALSO ADDRESSES THE STUDY OF DUTY AND

OBLIGATION

• REQUIRES HUMAN BEINGS TO ACT IN

ACCORDANCE WITH AND FOR THE SAKE OF MORAL
LAW OR DUTY
MORAL THEORY

Evaluates actions that are done because of

duty is called deontology.
IMMANUEL KANT

▪ (1724-1804) was a German enlightenment philosopher who

is thought to herald the (Copernican Revolution in
Philosophy).
▪ Main proponent of Deontology
IMMANUEL KANT

▪ The key to morality is human will or intention, rather than

consequences.
▪ He believed that the ethical actions follow universal moral
laws such as “DON’T LIE. DON’T STEAL. DON’T CHEAT”.
▪ According to Kant, if you know how to evaluate your
actions properly, you are already practicing the idea of
deontology
▪ To hold the MORAL CONVICTION means that is one’s duty
to do the right thing
IMMANUEL KANT

ACCORDING TO KANT, “ THE MORAL DUTY IS

CATEGORIZED OR AN ABSOLUTE COMMAND” THAT IS
WHY HE CALL HIS BRAND OR MORALITY IMPERATIVE.

▪ CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE-is an unconditional moral law

applying to all rational being dependent of all personal
desire and motives.
How is it apply

▪ It requires that people follow rules and do their duty.

▪ It doesn’t require weighing the cost and benefit of a
situation.
▪ Telling the truth is always right , hence “telling lie”, on the
contrary, “ is always wrong” for deontological ethics.
MAIN PURPOSE

TO INFORM US ABOUT OUR RATIONAL WILL

(RATIONALLY), WE HAVE THE CAPACITY TO ACT
ACCORDING TO PRINCIPLES THAT WE DETERMINE FOR
OURSELVES.
▪ ANIMAL WILL-INTERACT WITH THEIR SORROUNDING
▪ PERSON WILL- RESPOND TO OUR EXTERNAL
ENVIRONMENT
WHAT MAKES US DIFFERENT WITH
ANIMALS?

-WE, AS HUMAN BEING BEINGS,WE ARE RATIONAL BEING

PART OF BEING RATIONAL

WE ARE SORROUNDED WITH OUR MENTAL FACULTY
▪ IDEAS
▪ THOUGHTS
▪ IMAGES\ABSTRACTION
MENTAL ABSTRACTION

Why we do mental abstraction?

Because we are capable to stop and think about what we are
doing.

MENTAL CONSTRUCTION
There are two types of mental construction:

• IMAGINE THINGS
• IMPLEMENTATION
MENTAL ABSTRACTION

Why we do mental abstraction?

Because we are capable to stop and think about what we are
doing.

MENTAL CONSTRUCTION
There are two types of mental construction:

• IMAGINE THINGS
• IMPLEMENTATION
ANIMALS

ACT BASED ON THEIR NATURAL INSTINCT/BASE

IMPULSES

HUMAN
ON THE OTHER HAND HUMANS ALSO ACT THE SAME BUT WITH
RATIONALITY ( WE THINK FIRST FIRST BEFORE DOING SUCH
ACT).
 AGENT
▪ WE ALL HAVE HUMAN FREEDOM. IN HUMAN FREEDOM,
WE ARE CALLED AGENTS. WE CAN CHOOSE WHATEVER
WE THINK IS BEST FOR US

AGENCY
• THE ABILITY OF A PERSON TO ACT BASED ON HER
INTENTIONS AND MENTAL STATES
 KEY WORDS

▪ RATIONAL WILL-The capacity to act according to principles that we

determine for ourselves
▪ FACULTY-Inherent mental capacity
▪ BASED IMPULSE-Greed or self-interest
▪ DUTY-Based ethics teaches that some acts are right or wrong
▪ DEONTOLOGY-Is an ethical theory that uses rules to distinguish right from
wrong
▪ AGENCY-The ability of a person to act based on her intentions and mental
states
AUTONOMY
Kant claims that property of the rational will is autonomy,
Which is the opposite of heteronomy

AUTOS AUTONOMY
“SELF” NOMOS • SELF-LAW( SELF
LEGISLATION)
HETEROS
“OTHERS” NOMOS HETERONOMY
• OTHER LAW

NOMOS
“LAW”
Kant claims that there is a difference between rational will
And animal impulse

FREE CHOICE – The choice that can be determined by pure

intention
-That which is determinable only by inclination ( sensible
impulse, stimulus) would be animal choice (arbitrium
brutum).
 CHOICE OR ACTION DETERMINED BY

SENSIBLE IMPULSES PURE REASON

• BODILY OR EMOTIONAL • FREE CHOICE (FREEDOM
RESIDES HERE).
• OFTEN TIMES CREATE
TROUBLE IF RATIONAL • TO INTERVENE OR
THINKING IS NOT MEDIATE ARBITRIUM
APPLIED. BRUTUM
• Rationality was described as the mental capacity to construct ideas and thoughts that
are beyond one's immediate surroundings.

This mental capacity is what makes the intervention possible between stimulus and
reaction. With the faculty of reason, a person can break the immediacy of stimulus and
reaction by stopping to deliberate and assess possible alternative actions.

• Kant describes that human choice can be affected but is not determined by sensible
impulses.

• "The human person is not only an animal, but is also rational we admit to two possible
causes of our actions: sensible impulses and the faculty of reason, human freedom
resides in that distinction.
Autonomy is a property of the will only during instances when the
action is determined by pure reason.

When the action is determined by sensible impulses. despite the

source of those impuses being nevertheless internal it is considered
heteronomous.
 SIMPLY Autonomy

The idea of personal autonomy, this is the ability of an agent to

govern themselves. Just as with the case of the govemment. you are
autonomous your actions are truly yours, they are not forced on you
by something externa There are clear examples of situations where
someone is not autonomous such as where particular laws or
cultural norms cause you to act in ways that you would not
otherwise choose to
UNIVERSALIZABILITY
 UNIVERSALIZABILITY

For you to understand universalizability, you

need to understand your subjective principle of
action.
 UNIVERSALIZABILITY

Kinds of moral theory

SUBSTANTIVE MORAL THEORY

FORMAL MORAL THEORY

 SUBSTANTIVE MORAL THEORY
A substantive moral theory immediately promulgates the specific
actions that comprise that theory. As such, identities the particular
duties in a straightforward manner that the adherents of the theory
must follow.
 SUBSTANTIVE MORAL THEORY
EXAMPLE
• The set of ten Commandments of the Judeo-
Christion are tradition an unambiguous example of
a substantive moral theory.
• The spectic Kows are articulated mostly in the form
of a straightforward moral command "Honor your
father and mother. You shall not kill and so forth
 FORMAL MORAL THEORY
Formal moral theory does not supply the rules or commands
straightaway. It does not tell you what you may or may not
do. Instead, a formal moral theory provide us the "form of
framework of the moral theory. To provide the "form of a
mord theory to supply a procedure and the criteria for
determining, on one's own, the rules and moral commands.
 FOUR KEY ELEMENTS OF CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE OR
FORMULATION

• MAXIM

• ACTION

• WILL

• UNIVERSAL LAW
 ACCORDING TO KANT

He called this idea of subjectivity as “maxims”.

It consist of a “Rule” that we live by in our day to day lives

.
CONSIST OF RULE AND SUBJECTIVE OF
DEPICTS OUR PATTERN PRINCIPLE OF ACTION
OF BEHAVIOR

MAXIM
WE BECOME AWARE OF OUR ARE AKIN TO THE STANDARD
MAXIM IF WE TALK ABOUT OPERATING PROCEDURE (SOPS)
OURSELVES, WHEN WE REVEAL IN OUR LIFE
OUR HABIT
FORMULATION OF THE CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE WILL REFLECT
OF WHAT KIND OF MAXIM WE LIVED IN.

by which maxim by which you can of once will that it

become a universal law "What does it mean to will a maxim
that can become a universal law?

means that the maxim must be universalizable, which is what

means to “will that it become a univenal law” This means nothing
other than imagining a world in which the maxim, or personal rule
that Iived by were adopted by everyone as their own maxim

What if everyone were obligated to follow that maxim?

The Groundworks of metaphysics, Kant takes up the issue of
making false promises

• A person must reflect in doing false promises and

start thinking what is right and wrong.

• Demanding one rule for others and another for

yourself is a contradiction, it is irrational.
 TWO WAYS TO UNDERSTAND UNIVERSAL LAW

• CONSISTENT WITH SELF

• CONTRADICT ITSELF
 Kant rejects maxim if

The universalized maxim becomes either

(1) self- contradictory or
(2) the act and Its purpose become impossible.
 Rational permissibility

They cannot be rejected as

universalizable maxim.