Ethics Munson's 5 Ethical Theories
Ethics
Ethics is a branch if philosophy that deal with ideas about what is morally good and bad. Ethics act as tools, giving us guidance when we need to make important decisions in personal and professional situations. There are biblical inferences that can relate to most if not all situations that we come across in our daily lives. God will not put us in any situations that we cannot be triumphant in. If the Bible is an absolute in all of these theories, so is Jesus Christ.
The first ethical theory is Utilitarianism. Utilitarianism is the ethical theory that describes how the moral value or worth of an action is determined by how much benefit is gained from that action. It is measured by not only the amount of benefit gained but also the amount of people with benefits in the process. This theory hopes to provide guidance when choosing a course of action. Utilitarianism is divided into two groups based off of how they apply the theory. A Rule Utilitarian believes that the action is right if it results in happiness of great benefit (Munson, 2009). For example, the commandment, “thou shall not kill” is very straight forward and doesn’t leave room for interpretation. Someone who follows Rule Utilitarianism would strictly follow this rule by never committing murder or killing any living creature. An Act Utilitarian would decipher the commandment according to its greatest benefit. Act utilitarianism is the belief that an action is right if it is better than all of the other options as long as it yields the best results. In other words, there may be situations in which breaking the rules may be the best option. Breaking the commandment, “ thou shall not kill” may seem wrong when looking at it from the surface, but if it is done to save the life’s of others it may yield the best result. The absolute that applies to Utilitarianism is the Bible. 2 Corinthians 9:7 says, “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart; not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves
Ethics is a branch if philosophy that deal with ideas about what is morally good and bad. Ethics act as tools, giving us guidance when we need to make important decisions in personal and professional situations. There are biblical inferences that can relate to most if not all situations that we come across in our daily lives. God will not put us in any situations that we cannot be triumphant in. If the Bible is an absolute in all of these theories, so is Jesus Christ.
The first ethical theory is Utilitarianism. Utilitarianism is the ethical theory that describes how the moral value or worth of an action is determined by how much benefit is gained from that action. It is measured by not only the amount of benefit gained but also the amount of people with benefits in the process. This theory hopes to provide guidance when choosing a course of action. Utilitarianism is divided into two groups based off of how they apply the theory. A Rule Utilitarian believes that the action is right if it results in happiness of great benefit (Munson, 2009). For example, the commandment, “thou shall not kill” is very straight forward and doesn’t leave room for interpretation. Someone who follows Rule Utilitarianism would strictly follow this rule by never committing murder or killing any living creature. An Act Utilitarian would decipher the commandment according to its greatest benefit. Act utilitarianism is the belief that an action is right if it is better than all of the other options as long as it yields the best results. In other words, there may be situations in which breaking the rules may be the best option. Breaking the commandment, “ thou shall not kill” may seem wrong when looking at it from the surface, but if it is done to save the life’s of others it may yield the best result. The absolute that applies to Utilitarianism is the Bible. 2 Corinthians 9:7 says, “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart; not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves
References: Munson, R. (2009). Intervention and Reflection: Basic issues of bioethics (9th ed.). Ross, W.D., (2002). The Right and the Good. Edited, with an Introduction, by Philip Stratton- Lake Velasquez, M.G., (2002). Business Ethics: Concepts and Cases. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall.