What are the 5 Major Ethical Theories: Consequentialist. Deontological. Virtue . Ethics of Care. Feminist Ethics. Consequentialist. -rightness of actions depends solely on the consequences or results of those actions. -how much good the action produces.
She suggested that the ethical theories of the Ancient Greeks, such as those of Plato and Aristotle, could be the most plausible and satisfactory ones, once they were more theoretically developed. In the academic revival of virtue ethics that followed, Aristotle’s ethics became the most popular model for the basic concerns of the virtue ethicists.
These three theories of ethics (utilitarian ethics, deontological ethics, virtue ethics) form the foundation of normative ethics conversations. It is important, however, that public relations professionals also understand how to apply these concepts to the actual practice of the profession.
There are generally three philosophical approaches, or what may be considered the science, to ethical reasoning: utilitarian ethics; deontological ethics; virtue ethics; When people talk about these areas, they are usually discussing an area of ethics known as normative ethics, or the process of considering and determining ethical behavior.
However, there are several good reasons for doing so. First, understanding ethical theory helps inform ethical decision-making. Second, it improves confidence and competence for making future ethical decisions. Third, it helps to understand how and why patients or colleagues may not share the same moral outlook.
Ethical Theories are attempts to provide a clear, unified account of what our ethical obligations are. They are attempts, in other words, to tell a single “story” about what we are obligated to do, without referring directly to specific examples.
Here, we take a brief look at (1) utilitarianism, (2) deontology, (3) social justice and social contract theory, and (4) virtue theory. We are leaving out some important perspectives, such as general theories of justice and “rights” and feminist thought about ethics and patriarchy.
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.
Ethics is what guides us to tell the truth, keep our promises, or help someone in need. There is a framework of ethics underlying our lives on a daily basis, helping us make decisions that create positive impacts and steering us away from unjust outcomes.
Ethics teaches us what we ought to do, not what we do. We ought to treat others with kindness, compassion, respect, and so on. In other words, an ethical person practices applying virtues, our character traits, in making everyday decisions. Virtues are the positive traits of character that inform our ethical being.
Ethical theories are thus formal statements about what we ought to do, when faced with an ethical dilemma. Is it, for example, wrong to tell a lie, even if we thereby avoid making somebody sad? Or what if we, by harming one individual, can avoid ten people being harmed; should we in such cases choose the lesser evil?
The key is to understand the reasoning that we employ in ethical decision making so we can become more proficient. Ethical frameworks are perspectives useful for reasoning what course of action may provide the most moral outcome.
Ethical theories are often broadly divided into three types: i) Consequentialist theories, which are primarily concerned with the ethical consequences of particular actions; ii) Non-consequentialist theories, which tend to be broadly concerned with the intentions of the person making ethical decisions about particular ...
deontological ethics, in philosophy, ethical theories that place special emphasis on the relationship between duty and the morality of human actions.
ethics, also called moral philosophy, the discipline concerned with what is morally good and bad and morally right and wrong. The term is also applied to any system or theory of moral values or principles.
27) define normative ethics as “theories of ethics that are concerned with the norms, standards or criteria that define principles of ethical behaviour.” The most common examples of normative ethical theories are utilitarianism, Kantian duty-based ethics (deontology), and divine command theory, which are described ...
Moral theories are another tool to help an individual clearly and logically think about an ethical issue , and arrive at a decision that can be rationally defended. As John Rowan states in his preface to the textbook, Ethics for the Professions. “A moral theory is a mechanism for assessing whether a particular action or rule is ethically justified.
Moral theories range from Utilitarianism which bases what is considered “morally right” on the consequences of an action, to deontological theories, which base concepts of what is considered “morally right” on universal laws that exist outside of a specific situation. While these approaches differ significantly, ...
Many instructors of professional ethics are wary of including moral theory in their curriculum, and indeed, it is not necessary to if you are attempting to include only a small amount of professional ethics instruction in your course.
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.
The Ethical Theories: Brief Summary. Consequentialism names a type of ethical theory that judges human practices, like actions or rules, based on their consequences. Human practices that produce good consequences are morally right, while ones that produce bad consequences are morally wrong.
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.
Deontology names a type of ethical theory that judges human practices based on whether they are consistent with certain duties that the theory holds as intrinsically moral. Consequences are irrelevant to a fully deontological theory. Deontological theories tend to focus on the motives of actions, and whether a given action was motivated by duty or something else. In many deontological theories, motivation by moral duty itself–rather than other factors, like self-interest–is essential to an action’s being morally right. An advocate of deontology says that you should do certain things, just because those things are the right things to do, (they “align with duty.”) The originator of deontology as a formal theoretical framework was the German philosopher, Immanuel Kant. Later advocates have included W.D. Ross, Robert Nozick and Christine Korsgaard.
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.
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.
One should avoid contradictions in one’s thinking, since holding contradictory beliefs is the violation of reason. Purpose is an aspect of reason, properly conceived. Holding it as a value emphasizes the need to treat reasoning as a means to goals, and not merely as an end in itself.
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 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.
Nonconsequential ethics is the other side of the coin to consequential ethics. It says that people base their decisions not on the result but on the values and beliefs that they hold deeply. In nonconsequential ethics , you’ll decide on a situation based on what you believe rather than what may happen. For example, you won’t lie in a situation if you believe that honesty is important.
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.
Follow Us: maia Pascual/Pixabay. 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 theory of utilitarianism falls into this category because the benefit of decisions is the biggest factor. The virtue theory can fit into consequential ethics because a person’s reputation can be based on the consequences of his or her decisions. Nonconsequential Ethics.
The virtue theory puts people in boxes based on their reputations at one point in time. Consequential Ethics. 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.
Ethical hackers, on the other hand, help to eliminate threats, as well as improving IT systems’ overall security. Here’s everything you need to know about ethical hacking, why it’s becoming more important in modern life, and how to get started in the business.
Put simply, ethical hacking (or penetration testing) is the process of exploiting an IT system – with the owner’s permission – to determine any vulnerabilities or weaknesses.
White hat hackers are necessary to keep ‘the bad guys’ at bay, and they’re only going to get more sophisticated as countries ramp up their efforts in the constant information war. It’s not just network security, it’s also the wider concept of national security that is regularly put at risk.
Hacking into somebody’s account or service doesn’t seem very ethical – but you might be surprised by the good it can do. Nowadays, with a bit of know-how and a connection to the internet, anyone can be a hacker, so here’s the lowdown on doing it ethically. While most people will only ever deal with something like a password leak, ...