Deontological Moral System

A Deontological Moral System is a moral system that judges the morality of an action based on the action's adherence to moral rules.

• AKA: Deontology, Duty-based Ethical Theory.
• Context:
  • It can be held by a Deontologist.
  • It can be referenced by a Deontological Moral Argument.
  • …
• Example(s):
  • Kantian duty-based ethics.
  • Rossian duty-based ethics.
  • one that includes a Beauty-Maximizing Deontic Vision.
  • …
• Counter-Example(s):
  • a Consequentialist Moral System, such as Utilitarianism.
  • a Contract-based Ethical Theory/Contractarianism.
  • a Character-based Ethical Theory, such as Virtue Ethics.
  • a Pragmatic Ethical Theory.
  • a Nihilism.
• See: Game-Centric Utility Function.

---

---

References

2014

• (Wikipedia, 2014) ⇒ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deontological_ethics Retrieved:2014-9-1.
  • Deontological ethics or deontology is the normative ethical position that judges the morality of an action based on the action's adherence to a rule or rules. It is sometimes described as "duty" or "obligation" or "rule"-based ethics, because rules "bind you to your duty." Deontological ethics is commonly contrasted to consequentialism, virtue ethics, and pragmatic ethics. In this terminology action is more important than the consequences.

2011

• http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ethics-deontological/
  • QUOTE: The word deontology derives from the Greek words for duty (deon) and science (or study) of (logos). In contemporary moral philosophy, deontology is one of those kinds of normative theories regarding which choices are morally required, forbidden, or permitted. In other words, deontology falls within the domain of moral theories that guide and assess our choices of what we ought to do (deontic theories), in contrast to (aretaic [virtue] theories) that — fundamentally]], at least — guide and assess what kind of person (in terms of character traits) we are and should be. And within that domain, deontologists — those who subscribe to deontological theories of morality — stand in opposition to consequentialists.

2010

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/introduction/duty_1.shtml
  • QUOTE: Deontological (duty-based) ethics are concerned with what people do, not with the consequences of their actions.
    • Do the right thing.
    • Do it because it's the right thing to do.
    • Don't do wrong things.
    • Avoid them because they are wrong.
  • Under this form of ethics you can't justify an action by showing that it produced good consequences, which is why it's sometimes called 'non-Consequentialist'. The word ' deontological' comes from the Greek word deon, which means 'duty'. Duty-based ethics are usually what people are talking about when they refer to 'the principle of the thing'. Duty-based ethics teaches that some acts are right or wrong because of the sorts of things they are, and people have a duty to act accordingly, regardless of the good or bad consequences that may be produced.

    Some kinds of action are wrong or right in themselves, regardless of the consequences.

     Deontologists live in a universe of moral rules, such as:

    • It is wrong to kill innocent people.
    • It is wrong to steal.
    • It is wrong to tell lies.
    • It is right to keep promises.
  • Someone who follows Duty-based ethics should do the right thing, even if that produces more harm (or less good) than doing the wrong thing:

People have a duty to do the right thing, even if it produces a bad result.

1797

• (Kant, 1797) ⇒ Immanuel Kant. (1797). “Kant: The Metaphysics of Morals."

1785

• (Kant, 1785) ⇒ Immanuel Kant. (1785). “Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals."

---