Moral Philosophy and Ethical Theories

Question One 

Deontology is a region in ethics that involve commitment, responsibility and moral duty while utilitarianism can be defined as the principle in normative ethics that states that the correct form of action be taken to benefit the greatest number of people. In both, the aspect of ethics and consequences of one’s actions and behavior despite the outcome is the main focus. The main point of contrast between utilitarianism and deontology is the fact that utilitarianism is generally making the right decision followed by the right actions that has the best outcome for the largest number of individuals. On the other hand, deontology focuses on the understanding and practice that there is a respect for life, honesty and fairness despite the consequences and no matter the effect on individuals. 

Bentham and Mill are regarded to be the main people who influenced the consequential theory. They were both pioneers of social reforms in their days. Bentham developed his act of utilitarianism before Mill expounded on it by focusing on the weaknesses he noted. Mill was concerned with the needs of the minority. While Bentham theory was concerned with the need for quantity of happiness, Mill’s theory was concerned with a better quantity of happiness for all. Bentham was of the opinion that an action is most right if it maximizes pleasure and reduces pain. It argued that the happiness of a community is more important than the pleasure of an individual. This generally means that social policies are properly evaluated in the light of their effect on the general wellbeing of the population that is involved. Mill on the contrary was the opinion that pain or sacrifice of pleasure can be warranted when it leads to greater good of all. He argued that values of particular action, especially for the difficult or controversial ones, is to be determined by reference to the utility reference on itself. It was for the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people affected by the performance of the action. 

The biggest political impact of utilitarianism is the fact that most of such states won’t know nationalism. It won’t only act on behalf of the citizens but also on behalf of all the people in the globe. Such example of utilitarianism is communism, it is so pure at some point it tends to act as internationalism. In terms of seeking public appraisal, it is to say that government policies should typically consider the reaction of the media and those who are commonly referred to as key shareholders. The utility of a political policy doesn’t guarantee its success. This is because, politics is about controversy as to the consequences of politics and how the consequences are to be measured. In addition, politics is simply a competition between conflicting interests. It is not always possible to accurately predict the consequences of a policy at the point where the government is required to attain a specific policy position. The ethical issue of utilitarianism lies in the rational calculation of political consequences. Since political debate mostly happen at a heated emotional level, the rational calculation of their consequences can’t be undertaken since a lot of information is filtered before it reaches the public. 

Question Two 

Virtue ethics and care ethics are both forms of creating a more comprehensive moral philosophy. Each practice has a different form of approach basing on the Greek tradition and Judeo-Christian tradition of care. However, in the Greek approach the point of scrutiny lies in the inner person’s character while in the Judeo-Christian the focus is relational. They emphasizes on virtues of mind and character. They elucidate on nature and definition of virtues in aspects such as how virtues are acquired, how they can be applied in real life situation and how they are rooted in universal human nature or in a plurality of cultures. A virtue, such as generosity or honesty, is not just a tendency to do what is generous or honest, it is indeed a character trait that is rooted in within. These ethics deal in emotions and emotional reactions, choices, desires, values, attitude, perception, interest, sensibilities and expectations. It possess a certain virtue therefore can be defined as being a certain individual that possesses a certain complex mindset. Practical wisdom, an example of a given virtue, can be defined as the ability to possess the ability to do an action when faces with a given situation. 

In contrast to utilitarianism whose main focus is the sharing an emphasis on identifying morally obligatory actions, the virtue and care ethics on the other hand emphasizes the psychological constitution or character of individuals. While deontology concern itself with the right action, virtue ethics is concerned with the good life and what kind of person one should be. Deontology and Utilitarianism are based on rules that try to govern people into living the right life while virtue ethics makes the central character of individual their central concept. Consequential theories focus on the after math of a specified action while virtue and care ethics focus on building inner self character as a determinant of individual action. Utilitarianism and deontology mainly focus on the identification of universal principles that can be applied in a given moral situation while virtue and care ethics deal mainly on individual purposes; how each individual lives by maintaining an individual and social code of values. Aristotle argues that virtues are mainly based on common sense intuition used to judge admirable characters while utilitarianism and deontology focuses on the admiration of a character being attained by the analysis of the significances of its actions. They mainly focus on practical wisdom. 

Question Three 

Existentialism is a philosophy that emphasizes on individual existence, freedom and personal choices. It is based on the fact that human beings have their own meaning in life, and they possess the ability to make rational decision despite being surrounded by everything irrational in life. In existentialism, authenticity is referred to as the degree up to which one becomes true to their own personality, character and spirit despite their external pressures. It is the ability of individuals to retain their initial identity in terms of conscious self despite of the changing material world. The resilience of conscious self to external forces, pressures and the assimilation of any other influence that’s not oneself. The contrast of authenticity is bad faith. In bad faith as expounded by philosophers Simone and Sartre, is the situation in which human beings adopt false values and end up disowning their innate freedom due to pressure from social forces. Since existentialism believes in the freedom of individuals in choice making, the individual is in no position to escape this freedom no matter how overwhelming the circumstances are. Even though external forces may limit individuals, they cannot force a person to follow the choices of another, what existentialism refers to as freedom. In this situation, individuals make choices that they know have consequences. These are the reason that get individual choosing in anguish or anxiety. This causes a state of disorientation, confusion or dread. This argues that, the existence of individuals require conscious possibilities that may result to undeniable precedence. This basically assumes the role of individuals as objects in the world and not free objects. On the contrast, individuals exists only by the mercy of circumstances. Many existentialists have also regarded traditional systematic or academic philosophies, in both style and content, as too abstract and remote for the concrete human experience therefore terming it as ambiguous. The role of free will in ethical decision making ascertains that individuals’ actions follow a criteria that ends up with each owning up the consequences of their actions. Though one cannot assign a positive value of definition that may apply to oneself, one still possesses the ability to define what they are not. The inner anguish over moral uncertainty in existentialism determines the feelings one attaches to their individual choices in life. 

Question Four 

In consequentialism, the final consequences of an action justifies it. Even though utilitarianism and deontology differ with utilitarianism focusing on greatest good for all and deontology focusing on the consequences producing pleasure and avoiding pain, the consequential element of both is the point of focus. An example of the theory in action is lying. Even though most people would argue lying is bad, if the end would help save someone’s life then it is equated as right. 

In virtue and care ethics, there are certain virtues that are viewed as measures of morality and desirable as it attributes to one’s character. These virtues should always be the mean between two vices as if it stands on its own may lead to undesirable effects. For example, it is a desirable virtue to be courageous during a physical confrontation. However, it is undesirable if you are always enthusiastic to fight or a coward when confronted. Another scenario is the fact that it is desirable to see a joker or a clown but one would be upset if they are compared to such. 

In existentialism, dedicated professionals to the moral codes as demanded by their professions should separate themselves from the ultimate performance of their duties and instead focus on the effects of their actions in the process, a relatable scenario is lawyers in courts during the interpretation of the constitution and doctors in the interpretation of Hippocratic Oath. 

References 

Mitchell, H. B. (2015). Roots of Wisdom: A Tapestry of Philosophical Traditions , 7 th . Cengage Learning.