CIVIS AND ETHICAL EDUCATION ASSIGNMENT

DEONTOLOGICAL ETHICS

GROUP MEMBERS ID NO
1. EPHREM ZELEKE 0434/07
2. DAGIM GENENE 0325/07
3. YASIN TEMAM 1078/07
4. AMMANUEL BEYEN 167/07
5. ABENEZER AYELE 166/07
6. YITBAREK MRNBERU 168/07
7. AMMANUEL MULUGETA /07

15-04-2008
ADDIS ABABA SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE
DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE

EXCUTIVE SUMMARY
Deontologists believe that morality is a matter of duty. We have moral duties to do things
which it is right to do and moral duties not to do things which it is wrong to do. Whether
something is right or wrong doesn’t depend on its consequences. Rather, an action is right or
wrong in itself.
Most deontological theories recognize two classes of duties. First, there are general duties we
have towards anyone. These are mostly prohibitions, e.g. do not lie, do not murder. But some
may be positive, e.g. help people in need. Second, there are duties we have because of our
particular personal or social relationships. If you have made a promise, you have a duty to keep
it. If you are a parent, you have a duty to provide for your children. And so on.
We each have duties regarding our own actions. I have a duty to keep my promises, but I don’t
have a duty to make sure promises are kept. Deontology claims that we should each be most
concerned with complying with our duties, not attempting to bring about the best. In fact, all
deontologists agree that there are times when we should not maximize the good, because
doing so would be to violate a duty. Most deontologists also argue that we do not have a duty
to maximize the good, only a duty to do something for people in need. As this illustrates, many
deontologists think our duties are quite limited. While there are a number of things we may not
do, we are otherwise free to act as we please.

Most famous form of deontological ethics comes from

the work of Immanuel Kant

Immanuel Kant)
(1724-1804

INTRODUCTION

Deontology "judges the morality of an action based on the action's adherence to a rule or rules"
and it was first termed in 1930 by C. D. Broad when he wrote his book, Five Types of Ethical
Theory. In essence, people who follow deontological ethics "bind" themselves to duties and
obligations to certain people and the law. Since deontologists "bind" themselves to their duties,
the ethics system is often regarded as agent-relative morality because the person is more
concerned with how an act that satisfies or breaks a duty affects them. A classic example is a
deontologist would rather let a stranger die than to kill another stranger. The system is often
understood when compared with consequentialism. For deontologists, "some choices cannot

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be justified by their effects — that no matter how morally good their consequences, some
choices are morally forbidden".

Within deontological ethics, "what makes a choice right is its conformity with a moral norm,"
but there are variations or different schools of thought about which moral code people should
follow.

DEFINITE DEFINITION

Deontological derives from Greek words deon means "obligation or duty". It is the normative
ethical position that judges the morality of an action based on action to the rules. Deontological
theory also commonly contrasted to consequentialism.
Consequentialism is the consequences of one conduct are the ultimate basis for any judgment
about the rightness of that conduct.
Kantianism is a theory of ethics made by Immanuel Kant. He considered deontological for
several reasons. He argues that to act in the morally right way, people must act from deon
(duty).
Kant then argues that the consequences of an act of willing cannot be used to determine that
the person has a good will. “good consequences could arise by accident from an action that was
motivated by a desire to cause harm to an innocent person, and bad consequences could arise
from an action that was well-motivated”.
Deontological theory also consists of two centred. First is agent-centered and second is patient-
centered. For agent-centered, people have certain permissions or obligations based on their
agency. For the example; Parents can save their child instead of two other children.
For patient-centered, their actions based on rights instead of obligations. They only focuses on
a right that not to be used.
Some deontologists are moral absolutists, believing that certain actions are absolutely right or
wrong, regardless of the intentions behind them as well as the consequences.

DEONTOLOGICAL THEORIES

 Agent-centered
o People have certain permissions/obligations based on their Agency
o Example: Parents can save their child instead of two other children

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o Morality is personal, allows favor for friends, family, etc

o Keeping your own 'agency' free of moral taint
 Patient-centered
o Based on rights instead of obligations
o Focuses on a right not to be 'used'

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF DEONTOLOGICAL ETHICS

PROS:
 The categorical imperative offers a way to doing the right thing by asking, “what if
everyone did it?”
 By universalizing moral reasoning, Kant thought we’d all do what’s best.
 The humanitarian principle underscored the importance of not just using others for our
ends.
 Kant saw the individual more important than the society --he prioritizes human dignity.
 Deontological theories, or duty-based theories, hold that human beings have a moral
obligation to follow certain principles. A famous example, Immanuel Kant's categorical
imperative, requires that human beings treat others as ends and never as means.
 These types of theories tend to set out specific rules that allow people to evaluate their
behaviours, which is the major advantage.
 Deontological ethics also permits people to act above and beyond the base requirement
of the rules.
 Deontological ethics allow people to stay very consistent because they would perform
an act in practically the same way each time they satisfy their obligation.

 In addition, followers of deontological ethics often place their duties or priorities on

family, friends, or other people they are very familiar with. If the person had a duty to
the general public, the system "places a cap on duty's demands" and "avoids the overly
demanding and alienating aspects of consequentialism".

 The system also provides a reason for followers to be "supererogatory". In ethics,

"supererogatory......indicates an act that is good but not morally required to be done".
An example is if a man hijacked a bus of students and said if one person dies, then he
will let everyone free. The teacher who believes in deontology would volunteer to die
because he feels it's his obligation to protect the safety of his students, and many others

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would view his act as "supererogatory" because he is exceeding his duty to protect his
students.

CONS:
• by focusing on moral duty or obligation over end goals, we may end up with dreadful
consequences.
• Being honest or keeping to your moral obligations without exception may result in others
harmed or even killed—there are problems with blindly following duty.
• Kant’s system is brittle, inflexible, unbending.
• Some think it lacks the give-and-take needed for optimal moral reasoning.

• Deontological theories generate several pitfalls. They do not always clarify how to rank
duties, which can create insoluble dilemmas. In some cases, following a duty can lead to
dangerous or disastrous outcomes. For example, a duty to tell the truth would require
someone to tell a murderer where to find an intended victim.

• No set of rules can account for every possibility, which leaves individuals without
guidance in some moral decisions.
• A big disadvantage is that a deontologist may not violate a duty to prevent several
violations caused by other people, and this is often called the "paradox of deontological
constraints". Expressed in another way, the system has the "seeming irrationality of our
having duties or permissions to make the world morally worse". In some cases, the duty
may actually lead to disastrous consequences. A good example was presented in class by
Professor Turner, where a deontologist would not kill Hitler knowing the man would be
responsible for killing millions of other people.

• Also, for some duties, the deontologist doesn't seem to have a logical reason for
following it. For example, a person may make it his duty to go to work on time, but why
he made it his duty is often unclear. Ordinary people may cite not going to work late in
order to avoid trouble, but they probably wouldn't make it a duty.

• In addition, the system does not provide a good way of dealing with situations where
duties conflict with each other. Back to the man above, if he is late for work, should the
man break the law and speed to work, endangering other people in the public, or should

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the man arrive to work late? There does not seem to be a way of deciding which violation
is worst because there is no ranking system on the state of affairs after the duty, and
either way, the man will break a duty.

UNDERSTANDING THE PROS AND CONS BASED ON CASE STUDY

In order to understand theories and their advantages and disadvantages we should look at
some case studies and examples. Consider the following case studies from a deontological point
of view:

Case Study 1:

A media person is urged to broadcast false information in order to save the life of a person
taken hostage. There some underlying concerns:

1- Shall the media person broadcast the false information and lie to the public?

2- Shall he publish the information because it is the life of a person involved, not a trivial
issue?

From a deontological point of view: The media person should NOT broadcast the false
information because morals and principles dictate that we should not lie to people or provide
false information no matter what the benefit would be. Deontologists would say that abiding by
principles is more important than saving the life of an innocent person through lying.

Case Study 2:

A journalist published an article that is related to a person being tried in court for a crime. This
person’s innocence relies on whether the journalist would agree to reveal his sources or not.

This case study highlights a major drawback in deontology. Because in this case there is a very
big dilemma:

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1- Should the journalist do justice towards the person being tried and just reveal his
article sources to prove the person’s innocence? (If he doesn’t then he will be doing an
unethical act by denying justice to the person)

2- Should the journalist break his promise with his sources (whistle blowers) and undo
their anonymity? (If he reveals the identity of his sources, then he will also be
committing an unethical act of not respecting his deal and breaking his promise and
consequently whistle blowers will refrain from pointing at any wrongdoing or corruption
that they might witness afterwards)

Hence, it is a big dilemma between 2 equally important principles. Deontology would face a
hard time deciding what it could do in such a situation and this is one drawback of the
deontological or non-consequentialist approach.

SUMMARY

Disadvantages of Deontology

1- It does not take into consideration the complexity of life situations and sometimes the
results of the decisions taken by deontologists can be very drastic (it might reach the
death of an innocent person like case study 1).

2- It faces big dilemma when 2 principles are involved and usually applying it would not
be effective.

Advantages of Deontology

1- It makes it easy to judge whether an act or a person is moral or not, simply by seeing
whether he/she is following the basic principles, regardless of the consequences of their
acts.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deontological_ethics
2. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ethics-deontological/
3. http://www.bio.davidson.edu/people/kabernd/indep/carainbow/Theories.htm
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supererogation
5. http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Deontological_ethics
6. http://true-reality.net/csc300/resources/Resources/Reference/Ethics-
Presentations/deontology/index.html
7. Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy; Deontological Ethics; November 2007
8. Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy; Consequentialism; February 2006
9. Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy; Virtue Ethics; July 2007

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