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Applied Ethics: The Act

Actions speak far louder than consequences

Deontology is an approach to ethics in which the rightness or wrongness of an act is judged by its conformity to duties, rules and obligations. Therefore an individual should act according to what they believe is morally right regardless of the consequences. When you hear phrases such as 'duty for duty's sake', this is a deontological approach. This page explores its origin with Immanuel Kant, its strengths and weaknesses as well as how it compares with other branches of ethics.

Applied Ethics and the CP core

Applied Ethics seek to apply normative ethics and subsequent frameworks in practical situations.

 How does this relate to PPS and the reflective project?

The reflective project is about critical thinking to a specific current ethical dilemma in their career-related subject; this is a project about applying ethics. Students need parameters within which to work which is why their understanding of normative ethics must be built up systemmatically and clear in how to apply it in a range of scenarios. The contextualising of the ethical dilemma through a local and/or global examples and consideration of its impact emphasises the unique nature of a specific situation on an ethical dilemma.

A refresher on ethics

What are we talking about when we talk about ethics?
The three branches of ethics are Meta-ethics, Normative ethics and Applied ethics
Meta-ethics
Key question: What is it to be morally right or morally wrong?

Meta-ethics studies the nature of ethical judgments, the definition of ethical terms and different ways ethical arguments can be carried out. It is a step back from whether something is right or wrong; more the nature of right and wrong or good and bad.

Normative ethics
Key question: What does it mean to act ethically? Should ethical behaviour be influenced by what is right for the person; the intention behind the action itself; or what the consequence will be?

Normative ethics ... is all about creating theories and frameworks for ethical behaviour. The attention here is turned away from the moral nature of ethics but more towards how we should act. The 'act' in itself has three moral angles to consider: the agent, the act itself and the consequences; furthermore they are each emphasised respectively in Virtue, deontological and consequentialist ethics.

Deontological ethics ...
... is what?

Deontological ethics emphasise the importance of actions over consequences and how the relationship between duty and morality plays a crucial part. Furthermore, some moral principles are so important they are obligatory even if at the expense of human welfare.

Interestingly, in this branch of ethics, it might be that one's moral principles are outside of religious doctrine. In religious deontology, the principles derive from divine commandment so that under religious laws, we are morally obligated not to steal, lie, or cheat.

Give us an example

Adherence to the Law of Moses - The Ten Commandments in Judaism is a great example of moral principles bound in duty. And the conrnerstone of Christian ethics is an example of Monistic deontology as Jesus reduced the Law of Moses down to a single guiding principle:

“'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. ' The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself. ' There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:30-31).

Course of action: The Act

Applied Ethics
Key question: What are the different ethical courses of action in this situation?
Ethics in focus: Deontological Ethics and Kant's Categorical Imperative
Deontological ethics tell us that the intention and purity of the act itself is more important than the outcome. Good intentions are everything.

Example 1: Kant's Categorical Imperative
'Good will shines forth like a precious jewel. It is impossible to conceive anything at all in the world, or even out of it, which be taken as good without qualification, except good will'.

The only thing pure in humans is our reason (or rationality) and the unpredicatable nature of consequences made this impossible to measure. The same can be applied to feelings which were dangerously unpredictable and corruptible in humans. Duty alone makes something moral; for example if we do something because it is in our interest to do so, this is not moral. If we do something because it is the right thing to do, then this sense of duty makes it moral. 

The Categorical Imperative is a command that is done for its own sake. To know whether something is a categorical imperative, it had to pass a universal law made up of 3 maxims:

Maxim 1. You can only act on a principle if it can be universalised and you have to imagine that it is right for everyone and not just yourself.
Maxim 2. Humans are ends in themselves and not means to an end. All human beings deserve the same.
Maxim 3: Live as if you are living in a kingdom of ends. This basically means you must think of both Maxim 1 and 2 at the same time when acting.

 

How relevant are Deontological ethics?

Individual v the world?

Deontological ethics are often placed in contrast to consequentialist ethics to draw out their strengths and limitations.

Strengths

1. Duty-based ethical systems like deontological ethics do emphasise the importance of the human being and place their rights first. This is very much about considering the needs of the individual as opposed to the masses. And ergo this is a system which creates an emphasis on personal responsibility.

2. Deontological ethics take into account how humans think as it is a system which takes into account the intentions and motives behind an action.

3. It can also be said that this branch of ethics deals with providing certainty with rules and obligations as humans are not able to predict consequences for certain making that shaky ground to build an ethical framework on.

Limitations

1. The limited interest in results or consequences places a risk of an act reducing happiness in the world greatly which can limit the appeal of this branch of ethics.

2. Having absolute rules creates an inflexibility so that anything that does not seem to fit just becomes an exception to the rule. Is this workable?

3. Ultimately who decides what these moral laws are? Is it a case that this branch of ethics demands a hierarchical system where some people have the power to decide what moral laws should be. 

How does this apply nowadays?

Consider this from Paul Bloom and his thoughts about empathy being an overrated virtue. We can be rational and compassionate and want to make lives better rather than putting ourselves in their shoes. The world needs empathy but it should not be seen as a moral guide.

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