Feb 22, 2005 · New London, a city in Connecticut, used its eminent domain authority to seize private property to sell to private developers. The city said developing the land would create jobs and increase tax revenues. Susette Kelo and others whose property was seized sued New London in state court. The property owners argued the city violated the Fifth ...
Apr 23, 2017 · The purpose of this article is to explain different ethical theories and compare and contrast them in a way that's clear and easy for students to understand. There are three major categories of ethical systems that students typically learn about in philosophy classes: consequentialism, deontology and virtue ethics. I will describe all of them briefly,…
May 27, 2020 · Ethics is the branch of philosophy that deals with morality and how it shapes behavior. Different branches of the study of ethics look at where our views of morality come from and how they shape our everyday lives. There are four major ethical theories: deontology (or duty), utilitarianism, rights, and virtue.
The second prominent concept, deontological ethics, is associated with the father of modern deontology, Immanuel Kant. He was known for the ‘Categorical Imperative’ that looks for transcendent principles that apply to all humans. The idea is that “human beings should be treated with dignity and respect because they have rights.”
New London, a city in Connecticut, used its eminent domain authority to seize private property to sell to private developers. The city said developing the land would create jobs and increase tax revenues. Susette Kelo and others whose property was seized sued New London in state court.
Does a city violate the Fifth Amendment's takings clause if the city takes private property and sells it for private development, with the hopes the development will help the city's bad economy?
No. In a 5-4 opinion delivered by Justice John Paul Stevens, the majority held that the city's taking of private property to sell for private development qualified as a "public use" within the meaning of the takings clause.
"Kelo v. New London." Oyez, www.oyez.org/cases/2004/04-108. Accessed 4 Aug. 2021.
Objectivist Ethical Egoism, unlike the other terms here, names one specific theory. It takes human life as the abstract or general standard of moral evaluation. Roughly speaking, that which promotes human life is the good, that which damages or destroys it is the bad. Because Objectivism, the whole philosophy from which this ethics springs, views human life as fundamentally individual–needing to be lived, maintained and enhanced by each individual through his own action–Objectivist Ethical Egoism (OEE) takes each individual’s own life as his own effective standard of value. That which promotes the individual’s own life overall is the good for him, that which damages or destroys his own life is the bad for him.
Kant’s and Ross’s ethical theories are both deontological theories that focus on the general obligations of the agent as a moral agent. (This means that individuals have duties to themselves based on their own “agency.”) These are called “ agent-centered ” deontological theories. On the other hand, some philosophers have theorized that human rights can be based on deontological imperatives. They see an agent’s rights as irreducible moral constraints on the actions of others toward that agent. (So this means that individuals have duties to others based on the “agency” of those others.) These sorts of theories are called “ patient-centered ” deontology. This sort of deontology is most often discussed and advocated by academic libertarians, both right and left. Notable sources include Robert Nozick, Eric Mack, Michael Otsuka, and Hillel Steiner.
Other qualities that Aristotle considers virtues, include truthfulness, magnanimity, modesty, and pride.
The reason philosophers may want to consider the alternatives to actual consequences as the relevant type, is that people are not omniscient and can’t predict the future consequences of actions perfectly. So it doesn’t necessarily seem right to morally judge a decision, that was made at a given time and with a limited state of knowledge, by all of the actual consequences that followed. It would seem that one is saying that a person whose action produced bad consequences due to factors outside his possible knowledge was acting immorally. So, with “actual consequentialism,” people will sometimes be judged as acting immorally because they are not infallible predictors of the future. This tends to go against common-sense ideas of what morality demands.
There are three major categories of ethical systems that students typically learn about in philosophy classes: consequentialism, deontology and virtue ethics. I will describe all of them briefly, then describe each one of them in more detail, pointing out their defining features and major variants. I’ll then discuss the nature of Objectivist Ethical Egoism and how it compares and contrasts with each of these types of ethics.
The second major way consequentialist theories can be divided is by “whose consequences” count as morally relevant. That is, what beings are directly morally relevant in evaluating the consequences of a practice.
Objectivism holds that the governmental protection of rights– as Ayn Rand described them–is necessary for the flourishing of human life in a society. This is due to the particularly destructive nature of force to the lives of individuals other than the perpetrator.
There are four major ethical theories: deontology (or duty), utilitarianism, rights, and virtue. Each one of these theories looks at our ethical behavior in different ways. Deontology. The theory of deontology states that when we have to make ethical decisions, our first thoughts are on our duties and obligations.
The rights theory of ethics says that people make decisions based on the rights that their society agrees to. What the majority of people in that society believes is important will drive decisions. For example, the rights we Americans have in our Constitution should be factors in our decision-making according to this theory.
There are two sides to this theory. Act utilitarianism says you will make decisions based on helping others, while rule utilitarianism says you will act out of fairness. Those who don’t agree with this theory believe that nobody can predict outcomes, so we can’t know what the benefits of our actions will be.
The ethical theory of virtue states that we can judge a person’s decisions based on his or her character and morality. The way someone lives his or her life can explain any ethical decision according to this theory. For example, a person who lies and cheats to get ahead in life probably makes decisions based on advancing his or her own interests according to the virtue theory.
The virtue theory puts people in boxes based on their reputations at one point in time. These four theories fall into one of two categories. The first one, consequential ethics, states that outcomes determine ethical decisions. Therefore, the result of a situation makes that decision OK.
According to the theory of utilitarianism, people choose their actions based on how their decisions will benefit the most people.
There are generally three philosophical approaches, or what may be considered the science, to ethical reasoning: utilitarian ethics. deontological ethics. virtue ethics.
The first ethical system in normative ethics, utilitarianism, is often equated with the concept of “the greatest good for the greatest number.” The idea is that ethical decisions are made based on the consequences of the action, which is why it is also sometimes called consequentialism. Interestingly, Curtin, Gallicano and Matthew found that, when faced with ethical situations in public relations, “Millennials will use utilitarian reasoning to avoid confrontation and achieve consensus.” The attraction of this ethical perspective may lie in the fact that it appears to be a way to weigh out the impact of behavior and determine the greatest good for the greatest number.
Finally, a third and growing area of philosophical reasoning with ethics is known as virtue ethics, one that has gained more attention in public relations scholarship in recent years. This philosophy stems from Aristotle and is based on the virtues of the person making a decision. The consideration in virtue ethics is essentially “what makes a good person,” or, for the purpose of this discussion, “what makes a good public relations professional?” Virtue ethics require the decision-maker to understand what virtues are good for public relations and then decisions are made in light of those particular virtues. For example, if the virtue of honesty is the of utmost importance to a good public relations professional, then all decisions should be made ethically to ensure honesty is preserved.
The second prominent concept, deontological ethics, is associated with the father of modern deontology, Immanuel Kant. He was known for the ‘Categorical Imperative’ that looks for transcendent principles that apply to all humans.
You can have good food, good friends, a good day. Aristotle’s ethical enquiry is concerned with the good life for a human being. The word Aristotle uses for this is eudaimonia, which is sometimes translated as ‘human flourishing’. Aristotle has in mind the good life for a human in a broad sense.
Kant’s deontological ethics takes a rule-based approach. According to Kant, there are certain moral laws that are universal and we have a duty to follow them. He provides two tests to determine what these laws are. Based on these tests, Kant would say stealing is always wrong, regardless of the consequences.
Ethics is the study of morality – i.e. right and wrong, good and bad. The syllabus looks at 3 ethical theories: Utilitarianism. Kant’s deontological ethics. Aristotle’s virtue theory. Each theory provides a framework intended to guide moral behaviour.
Jeremy Bentham is widely considered to be the first utilitarian philosopher. His act utilitarianism can be boiled down to three claims: Whether an action is right/good or wrong/bad depends solely on its consequences. The only thing that is good is happiness.
Utilitarianism. Utilitarian ethical theories are consequentialist. They say that it’s the consequences of an action that make it either right or wrong. The most obviously relevant consequences are pain and pleasure. Generally speaking, utilitarian theories look to minimise pain and maximise pleasure. For example, a utilitarian might argue that it ...
Aristotle says we should only praise or condemn actions if they are done voluntarily. In other words, you can’t criticise someone for acting unvirtuously if their actions weren’t freely chosen.
Anyway, the felicific calculus should (in theory) provide a means to calculate the total happiness: add up all the pleasures and minus all the pains. Act utilitarians would agree that the morally good action is the one that maximises the total happiness.
Utilitarianism is a moral theory that implements fair choices in an effort to ensure the least amount of harm is done to all parties involved. The utilitarianism approach requires that you decide what course of action needs to be done and evaluate the outcomes of each action. By focusing on the outcome of each action, ...
Virtue. Virtue is very distinct from other ethic theories in that it looks at a person’s individual character, not necessarily his actions. When observing an unethical position, the virtue theory considers the person's reputation and purpose for committing the act.
Deontology focuses on the consequences of your actions and believes that when faced with life choices, you should operate according to responsibility and obligations. A deontologist believes that morality is a responsibility for everyone as well as a duty.
For example, in American culture cannibalism is considered taboo, while in other cultures the act of consuming other human flesh is accepted as a sacrifice or ritual. Relativism determines morals and ethics according to the society that is being observed.
In philosophy, egoism is the theory that one’s self should be the motivation of one’s own actions. It implies that whenever the individual is faced with two choices, they will always choose the one that benefits them the most. Egoism has two variants, descriptive and normative.
The history of photography is the recount of inventions, scientific discoveries and technical improvements that allowed human beings to capture an image on a photosensitive surface for the first time, using light and certain chemical elements that react with it.