...Deontology vs. Utilitarianism The first person I will examine is Adolf Hitler. During his reign, he killed million of Jewish people, all in the name of German expansion. He did, what he believed, was the right thing for his people, despite the horrible methods he used. His belief was that by expanding a "pure" race, the world would be a better place to live and many of the problems that plague the world would cease to exist. By this logic, he chose a form of pleasure over the suffering of his "people". This pleasure was the expansion of this pure race and the destruction of those Hitler saw unfit. With the eradication of these "Undesirables", which included gays, Jews, Africans, and Gypsies, Hitler thought that Germany would become a...
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...The moral theory that best describes the first version is “Deontology”. It is the most appropriate interpretation because deontology is non-consequentialist. Moral conduct follows duties or obligations. The moral principles are completely separated from any consequences. Consequences are not clearly thought out nor are the primary focus of the rules. There are a lot of situations that the first version would not be a decent fit for regular life. An illustration of one of those situations is if somebody's ethics are, “One should always answer honestly” What would happen if a dacoit asks robot to tell where a particular individual is or what the garage passcode is? The robot cannot tell the dacoit where the individual is because that would be...
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...BETWEEN DEONTOLOGY AND UTILITARIANISM Accounting Ethics: Differences between Deontology and Utilitarianism Yaa Mendez Liberty University Outline: Introduction with thesis Deontology: definition, concepts Utilitarianism: definition, concepts Similarities between deontology and utilitarianism Difference between deontology and utilitarianism Conclusion In 2013, the movie, The Wolf of Wall Street portrayed the dishonest dealings of people involved in securities exchange and trades of foreign and public companies. The actor, Leonardo DiCaprio, had an sensational thirst for wealth and learned of greed from his superior. This movie portrays the idea that greed, an unethical behavior, is an acceptable behavior that business individuals must cultivate to increase their wealth. So what is ethics? According to Spiceland, Sepe, and Tomassini (2007), ethics is “a code or moral system that provides a criteria for evaluating what is right and wrong” (Spiceland, Sepe, and Tomassni, 2007). Deontological theories base morality on certain duties or obligations and claim that certain actions are right or wrong regardless of the consequences that may follow from the actions. Deontology is a moral theory that depends on scriptures that are governed by rules, moral laws, and intuition. The word deontology is derived from the Greek term “deon” and “logos” which means the “study of duty” (Moreland, 2009). Moreland (2009) describes three features of deontology. The first...
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...Similarities and Differences in Virtue Theory, Utilitarianism, and Deontological Ethics This document will discuss the similarities and differences between virtue theory, utilitarianism, and deontological ethics. A persons ethical and social responsibility is very important to their personal and business success. Unfortunately, it is difficult to identify and classify what is ethical and moral. I will also provide a personal example of one of the ethical behavior. The first question you must ask yourself is what are the meaning of Virtue Theory, utilitarianism, and Deontological. According to the Webster Dictionary; Virtue- normally good behavior or character, a good moral quality, or the good result that comes from somerthing. Now what does that mean in laymens term, After reviewing the technical and professional expernatiation When talking about ethics it is hard to distinguish between ethics and morality. It is also hard to distinguish exactly what realm of ethics contributes to my everyday decisions. Ethics can be defined as “well-founded standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or specific virtues [and] ethics refers to the study and development of one's ethical standards” (Andre, Shanks, & Velasquez, 2010, para. 8-9). According to Psychology Today (2013) morality is, “ethics, evil, greed, sin, and conscience” (para. 1). “Morals can vary from person to person...
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...essentials. Therefore, three internal stakeholders that Dr. DoRight might have to deal with on a daily basis are Board of Trustees (shareholders), Employees, and his Regional Director of Compliance Manager and Executive Committee. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from http://www.allfreepapers.com/Business/Corporate-Governance-Ethical-Responsibility/22558.html. Additionally, three external stakeholders that Dr. DoRight might have to deal with on a daily basis consist of Patients, Numerous Community Organizations--Corporations, Government, and Local Community/Society. Retrieved February 10, 2013 from http://www.chegg.com/homework-help/questions-and-answers/2-compare-contrast-potential-conflicts-exist-duties-loyalty-owed-internal-stakeholder-vs-e-q2569829. 2. Compare and contrast potential conflicts of interest that may exist between the internal and external stakeholders. Dr. DoRight has managers in each department that he supervises and who work with him to address the needs of the various internal and external stakeholders of the hospital. However, He...
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...theories on ethics such as the virtue theory, the utilitarianism theory, and the deontological theory. There are similarities as well as differences for each theory. The virtue theory focuses on the character of the individual. It highlights the idea of how a person can be “good” and what it takes for a person to be considered “good”. This theory originated with the Greeks as they thought in order to be praiseworthy one had to develop certain habits and characteristics. (Boylan, M.,2009) Virtue Ethics takes the viewpoint that individuals should always strive for excellence. The problem with virtue ethics is that it relies on common opinion, meaning that one individual is able to judge whether or not another is being “good” or achieving excellence, but what makes that person the judge of all judges? When looking at virtue ethics an individual would strive for excellence, however what would make that person great? Virtue ethics would do really well in a society where everyone is expected to achieve the same goals or behave the same way; on the other hand in a society where self-expression and individual choices are respected and praised virtue ethics would have difficulty taking shape. The utilitarianism ethical theory differs from virtue ethics in that it focuses more on a group of individuals vs. the individual alone. For example a team player is one who puts the good of the team before her own good. (Boylan, M.,2009) Utilitarianism suggests that an action is morally right is the...
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...Aristotle and Plato are virtue ethics principle ethicists. Utilitarianism’s principal concepts are: egalitarianism, hedonism, consequentialism. This ethical system is based on a perception that a choice is moral when it has a result that is more positive for people. Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) and John Stuart Mill (1806-73) who was actually one of Bentham’s students, are, ethicist’s involved in developing utilitarianism. Social contact is that the persons’ moral or obligations are dependent on a contract or agreement. To be polite, not cheat or lie to one another in marriage, which marriage is like a contract. The ethicists that were involved in this were Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Individual relativism says that is not a universal standard. “All values are subjective because they are based upon the personal preferences that express one’s own self-interest” (Argosy, 2015). What you says goes basically, what you think is the better option is. The ethicists involved were Manuel Velasquez, Claire Andre, Thomas Shanks, S.J., and Michael J. Meyer. Deontology with goals is comprised of the principle components of an individual making ethical decisions based on achieving a certain goal. Hinduism and Buddhism both want to reach a particular goal in life. Buddhism is to reach their goal through nirvana, Hinduism is...
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...III, PhDc In order to determine the differences, you would have to know the meanings of each. Virtue would emphasize one’s character which embodies determining or evaluating ethical behavior; living with high moral standards. Virtue-based ethical theories place less emphasis on which rules people should follow and instead focus on helping people develop good character traits, such as kindness and generosity. These character traits will, in turn, allow a person to make the correct decisions later on in life. (Cline, 2013) Utilitarianism is the morally correct course of action that affects the greater good, without a regard to benefits or burdens. According to utilitarianism, morality is a matter of the non-moral good produced that results from moral actions, rules, and moral duty are instrumental, not intrinsic. One main problem is that utilitarianism if adopted, justifies as morally appropriate things that are clearly immoral. (Moreland, 2009) Deontology determines the morality of an action based on a set of rules or a “binding duty”. Deontological ethics is in keeping with Scripture, natural moral law, and intuitions from common sense. For example, acts of lying, promise breaking, or murder are intrinsically wrong, and we have a duty not to do these things. (Moreland, 2009) A personal example of these values is when I was walking out of Kroger, my son and I observed an older woman struggling with her groceries. As she tried to load them into her vehicle, a couple of her bags...
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...don’t need to be in agreement with any of these ethical theories You don’t need to know whether these theories are ultimately correct or not You don’t need to be concerned with other “big picture” issues, e.g. the origin of ethics EB EP Copyright Gregory B. Sadler, 2011 What We Are Going To Cover Five Ethical (families of) Theories Each articulates a particular perspective on good and bad, right and wrong Basic Principles / Key Terminology Important Variations in that family What to look for in student responses Knowledge of theory Application of theory EB EP Copyright Gregory B. Sadler, 2011 Five Theories Egoism the self and its needs Utilitarianism overall pleasure and pain for all concerned Deontology duty Care Ethics relationships, vulnerability, and empathy Virtue Ethics character EB EP Copyright Gregory B. Sadler, 2011 Three important points These are not the only Ethical Theories out there These are among those most frequently discussed in Business Ethics literature...
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...Compare and contrast potential conflicts of interest that may exist between the internal and external stakeholders: RESPONSE: According to Corporate Governance P.30 of chapter one, internal stakeholders are shareholders may risk losing profit if information being withheld by Dr. Do Right is investigated, found to be true and the hospital suffers loss of reputations, law suits. Although the legal liability of shareholders is limited by law to the amount of investment they make in the company, their expectations that all reporting operations of the company is in accordance with guidelines set by corporate roles, rights and responsibilities. Further, the hospital is expected to operate in accordance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. This Act protects the financial management of a company. Another example cited in textbook page. 73 "Experiences of Qui Tam Whistleblowers against the Pharmaceutical Industry" Write summarized their investigation of the motivation and experiences of health care industry whistleblowers focusing on the False Claims Acts. Dr. Do Right's legal responsibility would fall under this category since he knowing is allowing patients to be killed with the false pretense that the deaths are due to causes not associated with the hospital. The External Stakeholders conflicts of interest would exist only if the stakeholders were aware of the ethical, civil, and fraud taking place in a company to which they are doing business with. Further, the external stakeholders...
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...a) Utilitarianism Utilitarianism is a moral theory that ultimately concentrates on the happiness of an individual. This theory was initially developed by Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) and later altered by Stuart Mill (1806-1873). A Utilitarian’s attitude towards justice implies that no significant act (e.g., act of copying) or rule (e.g., “should not lie”) is basically good or bad. Rather, it solely depends on the overall non-moral good produced on accomplishing the act. The central idea here is that morality depends on the happiness produced after an ethical act or regulation. Hence the act is influential and not elemental. Therefore, utilitarianism is classed under “consequential” theory. Both Bentham and Mill were hedonists and regarded happiness as the most important thing in life. However, there was a conflict in the way they measured happiness. Bentham did not differentiate the pleasures obtained from the actions (Bentham, 1781). According to him, any work that generates happiness- be it eating or listening to music was essentially good. He was concerned about the quantity of happiness produced by doing an action. In contrast, Mill’s theory (Act Utilitarianism) focused on the quality of the action that produces happiness. He distinguished the pleasures into lower and higher pleasures. The former constituted of tactile sensuous pleasure like sleeping or eating, while the latter comprised of more intellectual behavior like listening to elegant music or reading a poem...
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...Karris Moses Professor Armstrong Law, Ethics and Corporate Governance Assignment 3: Corporate Governance and Ethical Responsibility Research Paper February 17, 2013 Karris Moses Prof. Armstrong LEG 500 February 17, 2013 Dr. DoRight has recently been hired as the President of the “Universal Human Care Hospital”, where he oversees all departments with over 5,000 employees and over 20,000 patients at the medical facility. He has been provided with a broad set of duties and oversight of numerous departments, including business development, customer services, human resources, legal, patient advocacy, to name a few. He has managers in each department that he supervises and who work with him to address the needs of the various internal and external stakeholders of the hospital. Dr. DoRight discovers that some patients within the hospital have been dying as a result of a variety of illegal procedures by doctors and nurses, and negligent supervision and oversight on their part. This was brought to his attention in a few meetings and he told his Regional Director Compliance Manager and Executive Committee in January 2009. He was told by them that the matter would be investigated and they would report any findings to him as soon as possible. After two (2) years, there have been no results from the investigation and some patients are still passing away due to the negligent activities. He also answers to a board of trustees and interfaces with numerous community organizations...
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...for themselves. • • Utilitarianism - Bentham and Mill o Utilitarianism is a consequentialist theory. Right and wrong depends on the consequences of one’s actions for everyone who might be affected by them. Jeremy Bentham • Bentham was a hedonist. He believed that happiness was a matter of more pleasure and less pain. • Bentham thought you could assign pleasure points to an action according to the following categories: o Intensity: How intense is the pleasure? o Duration: How long will it last? o Certainty: How sure are you that the pleasure will occur? o Proximity: How soon will the happiness occur? o Fecundity: How much more pleasure will this lead to? o Purity: How much pain will be mixed with this pleasure? o Extent: How many people will experience the pleasure? Quality vs. Quantity o Bentham: Pushpin is as good as poetry. o Mill: It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied. o Bentham believed that all pleasures should count equally, but Mill believed that humanity would be better off if the intellectual, moral and aesthetic pleasures were more valued. Principle of Utility o The right action is the one that produces the greatest balance of pleasure over pain, or happiness over unhappiness, for everyone affected by that action. o Animals count too, since they can feel pleasure and pain. o Future generations count, since our actions can have farreaching consequences. Act Utilitarianism o This is the classic form of Utilitarianism. Each separate action...
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...a reason and justification for what he or she believes (Weber, 2008). This paper will compare the similarities and differences between virtue, utilitarianism, and deontological ethics theory’s with a description of differences in how each address ethics and morality. With a personal experience that will explain the relationship between virtue, values, and moral beliefs as they relate to one of the three theories. Virtue Theory Similarities between virtue, utilitarianism, and deontological theory’s are they all recognize and support justice and responsibility towards ethics and a standard of action. Virtue focuses on what he or she should choose as their own personal innermost behavior or character and not solely on what customs or laws of a person’s culture are. When his or her character is good, then his or her choices or actions are good ("Virtue Ethics", 2009-2011). Utilitarianism This is an ethical structure that is steered toward outcomes and the results of actions. Making decisions and taking some sort of action that would benefit others by doing something good to the best of one’s ability and preventing anything bad from happening. Goals, results, and the outcomes are people’s main objective, not any actions that are taken to accomplish these results ("Deciding What’s Right", 2006). Deontology This theory is supposed to guide his or her choices regarding what is morally forbidden, permitted, are required. This theory is to assess and...
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...Stereotype vs. Archetype: A Watchmen vs. Kingdom Come Essay In Moore’s graphic novel Watchmen, Alan Moore destroys the concept of bright proper superheroes by introducing characters in Watchmen that are faulty and human. Kingdom Come is a similar novel that takes inspiration from Moore’s Watchmen while having it’s own unique characteristics that sets it apart. The superheroes that we see in Watchmen and Kingdom Come are heroes and/or vigilantes whose actions are seen as understandable but not morally justified. Rather than write the traditional archetype of the high-morale superheroes of the early to mid 1900s, Moore instead parodies the stereotypical superhero genre, by writing about the character’s philosophical warped views of society,...
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