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Ethical Theories

Ethical Theories. Learning objectives. To explain meaning and significance of ethical theories To differentiate major ethical theories To analyze ethical behaviors based on ethical theories. Differences Between Law vs. Ethics.

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Ethical Theories

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  1. Ethical Theories

  2. Learning objectives • To explain meaning and significance of ethical theories • To differentiate major ethical theories • To analyze ethical behaviors based on ethical theories

  3. Differences Between Law vs. Ethics • Law is a systems of principles and rules of human conduct prescribed or organized by society and enforced by public authority • Ethics is study of standards of conduct and moral judgment. When referring to a profession, it is a system, principles, or code of that group

  4. Ethical Theories • Utilitarianism • Deontology • Utiritarianism • Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill • Greatest good for the greatest number • The end justifies the means

  5. Utilitarianism • placing the locus of right and wrong solely on the outcomes (consequences) of choosing one action/policy over other actions/policies. • Moves beyond the scope of one's own interests • Takes into account the interests of others

  6. Basic beliefs of Utilitarianism • What is moral right is whatever produces the greatest overall amount of pleasure or happiness • Producing good consequences, not having good intentions • Do whatever will bring the most benefit (i.e., intrinsic value) to all of humanity

  7. People should try to increase the overall amount of pleasure in the world People should adhere to their obligations People should adhere to their duties Jeremy Bentham1748-1832

  8. Jeremy Bentham • Recognizes the fundamental role of pain and pleasure in human life • Approves or disapproves of an action on the basis of the amount of pain or pleasure brought about i.e, consequences • Equates good with pleasure and evil with pain, and asserts that pleasure and pain are capable of quantification

  9. John Stuart Mill • It is not the quantity of pleasure, but the quality of happiness that is central to utilitarianism • The calculus is unreasonable, that is, qualities cannot be quantified • Utilitarianism refers to the Greatest Happiness Principle to promote the capability of achieving happiness (higher pleasures) for the most amount of people

  10. Deontology • Immanuel Kant • Considering one's duties and the rights of others • The means justifies the end

  11. Deontology theory • One's duties • One’s obligations • The rights of others Immanuel Kant.

  12. Basic beliefs of Deontology • Adhere to their obligations and duties because upholding one's duty is what is considered ethically correct • Keeping promises to a friend • Following the law • A person who follows this theory will produce very consistent decisions since they will be based on the individual's set duties

  13. Difference between Utiritarianism and Deontology • The Utiritarianism believes that only the consequences of an act are important. • The Deontology is concerned with whether an act is intrinsically right or wrong • Deontology deals with intentions and motives

  14. Virtue Ethics: Definition • Virtue Ethics is a classification within Normative Ethics • It attempts to discover and classify what might be deemed of moral character • Applying the moral character as a base for one's choices and actions

  15. Key Concepts • focusing on what the individual should choose for his/her own personal inward behavior (character) • Rather than the individual relying solely on the external laws and customs of the person's culture • If a person's character is good then so ought the person's choices and actions be good.

  16. Key Concepts • Aristotle believed that a virtue lay in the middle of two contrary vices and described it as “the mean by reference to two vices: the one of excess and the other of deficiency” • Examples • Courage lies between foolhardiness and cowardice • Compassion lies between callousness and indulgence

  17. Case Study • Friends or Lovers?? • Tony, Claire, and Beth were the best of friends through high school. • After graduation they announced their engagement and Beth asked Claire to be her maid of honor. About six months before the wedding, Beth's mother became ill. • Two months passed and Beth's mother's condition worsened. Given the circumstance, Claire offered to help Beth to call off the wedding.

  18. Case Analysis • One evening Claire met Tony for dinner, and noticed while dining that he was very quiet. She asked him if there was something bothering him • Tony paused for a moment and asked Claire if she could keep a secret. • He proceeded to confess that he had had a brief affair shortly after Beth's mother became ill.

  19. Case Analysis (Cont.) • Tony told Claire how grateful he was to have gotten all of that off his chest and thanked Claire for being such a good friend. Still, Claire was speechless. • Question • If you were Claire, what you gonna do?

  20. Conclusion • Ethical theory serves as the foundation for ethical solutions • Philosophers have come up with theoretical ways of telling right from wrong • giving guidelines about how to live and act ethically

  21. Questions!!!

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