Week One Ethics Develpoment
Ethics
Tawana Fielder
ETH/316
08/30/12
Frank Dawson
Ethics
The ethical system is built from many theories. Utilitarianism teaches to “do” the right things in life. Deontology follows dictations and commandments from the bible. The virtue theory contains the development of personal characteristics. It is interesting to know how a person develops morals and values and why everyone is different.
Utilitarianism in ethics is the theory that the rightness or wrongness of an action is determined by its usefulness in bringing about the most happiness of all those affected by it. The word utilitarianism comes from the Greek word telos, which means “end”. Under this direction, acting ethically means making decisions and taking actions that benefit the people by maximizing “good” and minimizing “bad” (danielsfund.org). Englishmen Jerry Bentham and John Stuart Mill were too of the most influential developers of the utilitarian view point. Utilitarianism focuses on the pursuit of happiness.
Another theory is the deontology moral theory. While utilitarianism revolves around the concept of “the end justifies the means”, and deontology works on a concept that “the ends does not justify the means”. Deontology is another moral theory that is dependent on the Scriptures, which may refer to rules, moral laws, and intuition. It is based on the Greek word “deon” and “logos” meaning, “the study of duty”. In other words deontology is based on the idea that we have a duty to do certain things and to not do certain things. For example, if a person refuses to shoot someone because they feel they have a duty to follow the commandment “Thou shalt not kill”. This sentence becomes a rule that the person lives by. Deontologist have strong feelings about the words “right” and “good”. Rights have to do with actions. Good has to do with outcomes. They feel that “right” is the only consideration. Deontologist are people who freely choose to accept certain constraints and who decide
Tawana Fielder
ETH/316
08/30/12
Frank Dawson
Ethics
The ethical system is built from many theories. Utilitarianism teaches to “do” the right things in life. Deontology follows dictations and commandments from the bible. The virtue theory contains the development of personal characteristics. It is interesting to know how a person develops morals and values and why everyone is different.
Utilitarianism in ethics is the theory that the rightness or wrongness of an action is determined by its usefulness in bringing about the most happiness of all those affected by it. The word utilitarianism comes from the Greek word telos, which means “end”. Under this direction, acting ethically means making decisions and taking actions that benefit the people by maximizing “good” and minimizing “bad” (danielsfund.org). Englishmen Jerry Bentham and John Stuart Mill were too of the most influential developers of the utilitarian view point. Utilitarianism focuses on the pursuit of happiness.
Another theory is the deontology moral theory. While utilitarianism revolves around the concept of “the end justifies the means”, and deontology works on a concept that “the ends does not justify the means”. Deontology is another moral theory that is dependent on the Scriptures, which may refer to rules, moral laws, and intuition. It is based on the Greek word “deon” and “logos” meaning, “the study of duty”. In other words deontology is based on the idea that we have a duty to do certain things and to not do certain things. For example, if a person refuses to shoot someone because they feel they have a duty to follow the commandment “Thou shalt not kill”. This sentence becomes a rule that the person lives by. Deontologist have strong feelings about the words “right” and “good”. Rights have to do with actions. Good has to do with outcomes. They feel that “right” is the only consideration. Deontologist are people who freely choose to accept certain constraints and who decide