Duty-Based Ethics (Deontological Ethics)

Overview

• Deontological Ethics: Focus on what people do, not the consequences.
  • Do the right thing because it's right.
  • Avoid wrong actions because they are wrong.
• Actions cannot be justified by their consequences ('non-Consequentialist').
• Derived from Greek word deon, meaning 'duty'.
• Emphasizes moral rules:
  • Wrong to kill, steal, lie.
  • Right to keep promises.
• Do the right thing even if it causes harm.

Key Concepts

• Absolutism: Sets absolute rules with potential exceptions.
• Intention Matters: Ethical judgments consider intentions.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Values every human being equally.
• Some acts are always wrong (Kantian and Rossian perspectives).
• Provides certainty by focusing on actions.
• Considers intentions and motives.

Cons

• Can be absolutist, not flexible.
• May lead to less good consequences globally.
• Difficult to reconcile conflicting duties.

Kantian Duty-Based Ethics

Immanuel Kant

• Consistent moral system using reason.
• Morality applies to all rational beings.
• Independence from God or community for moral decisions.

Good Will

• The only intrinsically good thing is a good will.
• Actions from a good will are right, regardless of consequences.

Categorical Imperative

• Universalisability: Act as if your action could be a universal law.
• Respect: Treat humanity as an end, not just a means.
• Importance of duty: Act from duty, not other motivations.

Rossian Duty-Based Ethics

W.D. Ross

• Differentiates Prima Facie Duties and Actual Duties.

Prima Facie Duties

• Self-evident duties requiring no proof.
• Include fidelity, reparation, gratitude, justice, beneficence, self-improvement, and non-maleficence.

Actual Duties

• Balancing conflicting prima facie duties to determine actual duty.

Challenges

• Identifying and ranking prima facie duties for decisions.
• Rely on intuition to solve these problems.