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Deontology, Consequentialism, And Virtue Ethics

1040 Words5 Pages

Ethical theories and principles provide the foundation for all ethical behavior.1There are three ethical laws, Deontology, Consequentialism, and Virtue ethics. These ethical theories, each emphasize different viewpoints on how to reach a resolution according to the guidelines defined within the theory itself. It important in every organization but more importantly in healthcare, because they act as a viewpoint on which guidance is obtained towards a decision. The term deontology comes from the Greek word deon, meaning duty.2 In Deontology, actions and outcomes are always judged independently of their outcome and the act itself determine its rightness if it upholds the rules that apply and not the outcome. The theory of deontology states we …show more content…

As with each ethical theories, there are strength and weaknesses associated with them. Deontology stresses the role of duty and respect for an individual person and it is also easy to judge whether a person actions are moral not, simply by looking at whether the person is following basic rules or the guiding principles. It also allows society or people to be consistent in how they would perform an act regardless of the outcome associated with it. The disadvantage of Deontology is, it underestimates the importance of happiness, complexity of life situations and conflicting duties of people. The rules of Deontology are also vague and fail to offer moral guidance or take into account as to which rules or principles should take priority when conflict arises and While it is not necessarily wise to rely solely on outcome, it is not a good idea to completely ignore the outcome …show more content…

It provides an easy to understand guidelines stating that every act has a consequence, whether the consequence is good or bad. The argument against Utilitarianism are: The theory is too subjective and makes it hard to determine when a line should be drawn, some acts have too much a negative complication even for a greater cause that they can’t be done, and at times it might be time consuming and difficult. For example, you can’t calculate every action you

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