Ethical Theories And Deontological Moral Theories

Adam Allred Philosophy 1000 Dr. Richard Greene Term Paper In this paper I will address the questions of what are consequentialist moral theories and deontological moral theories. I will also gear my attention to the best known theorist for both respected parties. After doing that, I will show the key difference in consequentialist and deontological overall theories. Furthermore, I will also give my opinion on which theorist and theory I feel most compelled to side with. I will first introduce you to the idea of normative ethics, both consequentialist and deontological are branches of this. The idea of normative ethics is to show us how a person should behave, and also the moral values that we should have. The overall goal of normative†¦show more content†¦So for example, if my intention or motive was good then the consequences do not change that it was moral. On the other hand, if I have bad intentions or motives than no matter the outcome it would be demend immoral. The most recognized theorist of this view was Immanuel Kant, we will go over his work in more detail later in this paper. The next thing I will address is the key difference in consequentialist and Deontologists. I will not give my opinion on what I feel is best yet, but rather give a closer look at what makes them so different. The key difference of the two is how you are told to judge the outcome of morality. Consequentialist as I have stated earlier judge actions on the consequences of the action to be able to see if it is considered moral. Deontologists as I have also stated earlier judge the action by the overall intent or motive to see if it is moral. So the real difference is that both use a different view point of an action to try to decipher if it s moral. Both try to give us some moral principles to use to judge what is moral and immoral. But that is the only thing they share, other than that they could not be more of polar opposites. John Stuart Mill was a British philosopher, he is a consequentialist moral theorist. But that being said, he is best known as a Utilitarian which is a species of consequentialism. Utilitarianism is based on The Principles of Utility, which say an action is deemed right if it produces