SCRIBESPARK

Deontology

Fulfilling the duties we should all live by.


Lesson Objectives

Appreciate the desirability of universal ethics (absolutism)

Appreciate the difference between Ethical Absolutism & Ethical Relativism

Appreciate Kant's realization that Ethics would now arise from reason alone

Understand Kantian Deontology and why duties are central to Ethics

Understand the difference between Hypothetical & Categorical Imperatives

Appreciate why after World War II the idea of Kantian Ethics fell flat


Key Terms

Ethical Absolutism

Ethical Relativism

Universal Ethics

Deontology

Hypothetical Imperative

Categorical Imperative

Maxim

Autonomous Lawmakers

Deontology & the Problem of Consequences


The Search for Universal Values


Isn't Good Universal?

• The appeal to a universal good can be found in it's application

• If there's a good that everyone must follow, then it can be applied equally

• This gets rid of a lot of unjust things like favortism and discrimination

• If justice is about fairness and fairness is about equality, shouldn't laws be?


Do we not all share some values?

• All cultures generally protect their children

• All cultures generally promote truth-telling

• All cultures generally prohibit harming someone without just cause


Religious Ethics

• Insofar as religions are universal ( ...and some aren't) their ethics are as well

• The universal Christian ethics of prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance

• The unverisal Islamic ethics of caring for orphans or keeping promises (17:34)

• The universal Hindu ethic of non-violence (ahimsa)