Theory according to the merriam-webster.com is a set of ideas that is intended to explain facts or events. The goal of a theory is to approach a situation and to identify the matter and determine the best outcome from it. The two components of a theory are assessing solutions to the disagreement and specifying the reason for this issue and supporting it with a conclusion.
One of the theories I have chosen to use is Deontology and the situation of a mother telling her daughter whether Santa Clause really exists. The components of in this matter in Deontology in this case would be whether the mother should tell the truth or should she lie? Using the Universal Rule Test will portray the actions needed to justify the clarity of its rule of “Never lie” for deciding on telling her daughter the truth or not. As mentioned in the book (Ethics and social responsibility (2nd ed.) “People are taught throughout life at an early age to tell the truth.” In this case some may say the child is at the “age of reason” and it would be okay to lie, with this view in place the principle “Never lie” is not violated. Again as the book states, “It is okay to lie in some situations, but not others.” The relationships between these components are trying to figure out what situations do allow lying and what do not.
In order to determine if a theory is valid or not you must distinguish if the premises are taken as the truth, and then the conclusion must be taken as true. Evidence or data is a collection of statistics that are documented incidences of an event. Evidence and data can come from observations and analysis of common knowledge experiences and from our behaviors. The Utilitarianism theory is a good example of where evidence and data is useful. One of the most common principles in utilitarian is to adopt a rule, or a law for situations such as shoplifting. Therefore if one did enforce such a rule then the greatest number of people (the store owner) would achieve the greatest amount of good by preventing shoplifting as less as possible.
When contrasting a theory from a personal belief from a deontology theory view it can be complicated in some situations such as the story with the mother telling the daughter about Santa Clause’s existence. As you grow up we are told to always tell the truth and some people are so set in stone on keeping that perspective they will tell the child exactly what they should hear, “the truth of Santa Clause” and that he is not real. While others will suggest otherwise and let one believe he does exist, they feel they are not in violation of the rule “Never lie”.