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Comparing Utilitarianism And Deontology

488 Words2 Pages

Victoria Mueller 03/16/2018 Philosophy 202-03
In this essay I will compare and contrast utilitarianism and deontology, describe why utilitarianism should be rejected as an ethical theory, and explain why I agree with deontology.
Kant's ethics or deontology is the normative ethical view that judges the morality of an action based on the action's adherence to a rule or rules (quizlet.) According to the book "The Ethical Life", Utilitarianism ethics state that in order for something to be morally good it must produce the greatest possible amount of good for the greatest amount of people and have very few negative consequences for them as well. Utilitarianism relies on intrinsic value and not instrumental value, meaning that it has value in itself, and that you are better off in just having it in your life. …show more content…

They then choose the better option for the well-being of the most amount of people.
I disagree with this logic though because utilitarianism leaves out the individual person, just because it's 'for the greater good' doesn't mean it benefits everyone. This belief applies even if a certain act will harm an innocent person. For example, if you had to kill someone to save seven other lives a utilitarianist would tell you you're morally right in your actions.
By contrast, deontology does not focus on the consequences of one's actions. Deontology believes that certain actions are always wrong no matter what their consequences may be. Critics of deontology may point out that it does not allow for exceptional cases where actions avoid morally dubious actions that avoid causing harm to other

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