ETHICAL THEORY 7 Consequentialism is a quick and easy way to do a moral assessment of an action by looking at the outcome of that action instead of relying on intuition or needing to refer to a lengthy list of duties (Fieser, n.d.). Healthcare. Strengths: Recognises importance of human autonomy Is rational and universal, so not relativistic Not ends based, avoids criticisms of consequentialist theories No singular end specified, so each can pursue own aims Weaknesses: Implicit consequentialism in the theory (striving for 'kingdom of ends'). 1 What is a strength of consequentialism? murders this willing sacrifice so the gods might be appeased and How do you describe the shape of a molecule? But if telling a lie would help save a persons life, consequentialism says its the right thing to do. Other weaknesses are: It is subjective, making it difficult to define right and wrong. From a hedonist's point of view A highly undesirable consequence may appear to be the result of a morally wrong decision. So its not that religion does not effect morality, its just that morality also impacts religion. . One difference, however, is consequentialism does not specify a desired outcome, while utilitarianism specifies good as the desired outcome. You can be like Bentham and think that pleasure is the only good, or you could think that there are lots of goods, or you could let each person decide what is good for him or her. https://human.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Philosophy/Book_Introduction_to_Ethics_(Levin_et_al. Utilitarianism is a Consequentialist moral theory. But if telling a lie would help save a person's life, consequentialism says it's the right thing to do. or wrongness of the action. Consequentialism says that right or wrong depend on the consequences of an act, and that the more good consequences are produced, the better the act. From the discussion, it can be concluded that the strength of deontology as argued by Ross is in its classification of the obligations of actors, while its weakness is in the fact that it does not give enough room for critiquing moral actions. All ethical theories, of course, are concerned about moral consequences, and most have as their teleological emphasis (i.e., end goal) a moral outcome. History is full of examples of unintended consequences. for example, in an attempt to raise standards and accountability in public schools, high stakes testing became common. I agree with you Dr Aparna Sathya Murthy. Fax: (615) 242-0065, 505 Second St., N.E. Whether youre religious or not, morality comes from the same place. Humans can live without religion but they cant live without spirituality. (2022) 'Philosophy of Deontology and Consequentialism'. 16 August. Honesty and persistence in attitudes, and the existence of a clear principle and landmarks and direction of one's personality, will avoid falling into the category of herd theory and consequentialism to others, and generally consequentialism causes bad results on the human. 3). Which is the better theory in your opinion, and why? 2. Consider, for a moment, if we judged this action not on the consequences, but rather on the reasons or motives for acting. The prima facie duty is the conditional duty of an agent, while the actual duty entails the compelling forces behind a certain action. #4 ? The Role of Moral Values in Everyday Life: Moral Development, Educational Psychology. In N. https://www.ngefarpress.com/. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. Consequentialist - Strengths and weaknesses. In moral or ethical philosophies the greatest good To acquire these virtues, follow the example of persons who possess them. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads. Retributivism justifies punishment on the basis of desert. It seems that a Utilitarian would be forced to accept that eliminating this minority would increase the happiness for the majority of people, and would therefore be a moral action. - The Inseparability of Logic and Ethics, John Corcoran 1989. 3. Consequentialism is an attractive ethical approach because it provides clear and practical guidance at least in situations where outcomes are easy to predict. > https://www.academia.edu/9413409/INSEPARABILITY_OF_LOGIC_AND_ETHICS, 19. The biggest weakness, at least for Christians, is that of the three theories under consideration, consequentialism is the least compatible with biblical ethics. 5*;2UG Whats the main problem with deontological ethical theories? We can begin by considering the point about neutrality. Why is consequentialism better than utilitarianism? What is the Role of Logic in Ethics? All of the critiques I have offered are focused only on the short-term consequences, and not the long-term consequences. I am currently continuing at SunAgri as an R&D engineer. This is an example of a type of schema called a 'script. Williams is not clear on whether George will actively sabotage the research, but it can be reasonably assumed that if George takes the job, he will perform his duties in such a way that will minimize the impact that chemical and biological research will have on developing weapons for war. --> FOAM FATAL ERROR: Maximum number of iterations exceeded Either strength or weakness depends on situation. It is simply impossible for people to be moral without religion or God. Utilitarianism: Strengths & Weaknesses Consequentialism, deontology, and virtue ethics are three main traditions in ethical theory. Normative Ethics, Metaethics and Applied Ethics: Three Branches of Ethics, 7. We get to focus on an objective, universal solution. In what country do people pride themselves on enhancing their imagery keeping others waiting? Give examples from a general or your personal experience. Consequentialism is an ethical theory that judges whether or not something is right by what its consequences are. It might involve, for example, removing them from society by forcing them to leave the society. Ethics: A Discipline Within Philosophy, This material is based on original work by George Matthews, and produced with support from the Rebus Community https://press.rebus.community/intro-to-phil-ethics, 6. Copyright 2023 - IvyPanda is operated by, Philosophy of Deontology and Consequentialism, Inductive Reasoning: "Which Stooge Are You" by Ron Geraci, Moral Ethics in the Doctrine of Double Effect by W. Quinn, Strengths and weaknesses of consequentialism, Pettit's Conception of Freedom as Anti-Power, Rosss Moral Theory and Deontology Concept, Prima Facie Case: Home Country v. Foreign Country, The Virtuoso Singers: The Prima Donna and the Castrato, The Use of Moral and Political Theories in Business, Non-Consequential Morality Theories and Medical Ethics, Unprofessional Conduct: Board of Education & Privacy Violation, Utilitarianism' Critique by B. Williams and P. Pettit, The Ontological Argument for the Existence of God, Descartes Argument for the Existence of God, "Crito" by Plato - Politics and Philosophy. The Discipline of Ethics - Content Learning Outcomes, Mark Dimmock and Andrew Fisher, Ethics for A-Level. If all these social institutions are organized and co-operate with one another around a set of core values functionalist theorists assume that the entire . There are both strengths and weaknesses to this theory. Distinguishing Between the Concept of Moral Values & Other Types of Value, Creators: Adendorff, MikeMason, MarkMondiba, MaropengFaragher, LynetteKunene, ZandileGultig, John https://oerafrica.org/resource/being-teacher-section-six-teachers-values-and-society, 8. A concise, though admittedly simplistic formulation, would be that deontology is concerned with the what, virtue ethics with the who, and consequentialism with the why. Because all three of these elementsthe what, who, and whyare essential to biblical ethics, we can learn from each of these ethical systems. Motives and reasons, in other words, are not as clearly accessible as the consequences of an action. Two examples of consequentialism are utilitarianism and hedonism . For instance, most people would agree that lying is wrong. Basic ideas: All action leads to some end. I am currently continuing at SunAgri as an R&D engineer. Or is there some other difference, or no difference at all? https://www.ted.com/talks/iyad_rahwan_what_moral_decisions_should_driverless_cars_make#t-13525, 14. What are the strengths and weaknesses of Consequentialism generally? Hard to tell what someones motives are / some may not even want to develop moral virtues? But this seems wrong, mainly because removing the minority from society would involve what many people take to be morally evil actions, which is another problem with Utilitarianism. "the end justifies the means", meaning that if a goal is morally important enough, any method of achieving it is acceptable.''. You can look to the real world consequences to see if a particular act or a class of acts (rule utilitarianism) produces a net benefit. Indeed, if this colleague takes the job, he will pursue the research with great zeal. It will, for example, weaken the trust among members of a community, and destabilize the social relations of individuals within that community. The main problem is that different societies have their own ethical standard and set of distinct laws; but the problem exists that if in fact there is a universal law, why different societies not have the same set of ethical and moral standards. As we discussed in utilitarianism, a flaw with consequentialist thinking is that we can never really know what the results of an action will be. That is, Utilitarianism provides us with a clear path for determining which action in a given situation will be the correct one: it is that action that will increase utility. Another example of consequentialism philosophy in action is that of consequentialism in healthcare. What are the strengths and weaknesses of consequentialism generally? We all see killing or murdering as the wrongest human deed because we are taught since our childhood that killing anybody including an animal in a wrong act. What is the best estimate of the capacity of a juice box? Philosophy of Deontology and Consequentialism. Other weaknesses are: It is subjective, making it difficult to define right and wrong. Pettit presented an argument pointing to the strength of consequentialism over other approaches to moral thought. Consequentialism is the belief that the outcomes of actions, the consequences of certain normative properties decide the rightness or wrongness of the action. professional specifically for you? Wooldridge) Introduction to Ethics (Levin et al.) His theory does not allow favouritism. Consequentialism and Deontological theories are two of the main theories in ethics. Saying that we should focus on the long-term consequences of an action when the implications of the short-term consequences are troubling seems to be problematic. Provided that a good outcome results from an act, that act is . Whats the main problem with deontological ethical theories? In Romans 3:8, Paul clearly condemns the idea that Christians can do evil that good may result. Yet consequentialism proposes that we can commit any number of evil and unbiblical actions if the result leads to what we would consider a moral consequence. He has argued, based on utilitarian grounds, that we have no reason not to experiment on babies or the mentaly disabledhuman infantsorphans perhapsor retarded human beings rather than animals since that is a form of specieism. (Singer has also compared the animal liberation movement to the underground railroad that freed human slaves in America.) One of the most common objections to rule-consequentialism is that it is incoherent, because it is based on the consequentialist principle that what we should be concerned with is maximizing the good, but then it tells us not to act to maximize the good, but to follow rules (even in cases where we know that breaking . The most basic utilitarian critique of human rights lies in the assertion that resources are scarce in any society, and especially limited in some. Ross introduced the concept of intuitionism in deontology by arguing about the prioritization and rationalization of moral reasons behind an action. lead to many bad ideas. Some claim Bentham committed the 'naturalistic fallacy . A consequentialist would choose the five patients who require less of a dosage to receive the medicine, allowing the sixth patient to die, as this produces the most moral good. Perhaps the biggest strength of Utilitarianism is that it is, at least prima facie, easier to reach a conclusion under this theory than other theories. For instance, most people would agree that lying is wrong. The second problem is that the ''end'' is separated from the ''means'', and this separation allows to justify any atrocities by hiding it with an shining utopia. In so doing, a Utilitarian switches the focus from a version of Utilitarianism that is focused on acts, to one that is focused on rules. There are many reasons consequentialism has maintained a broad appeal for the past three hundred years. #5 __libc_start_main in "/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6" #6 ? It was a good George has recently completed his PhD in Chemistry, and, like any other PhD candidate, finds it extremely difficult to land a job after completing his degree. The Trolley Problem and Self-Driving Cars: Your Cars Moral Settings. Future consequences are difficult to predict it's hard to predict the future consequences of an act. Deontological moral theory also possesses its own unique strengths and weaknesses. Like any other theory, Utilitarianism has its advantages and disadvantages. Compare Consequentialist and Nonconsequentialist approaches to morality. Wooldridge) Introduction to Ethics (Levin et al.) We do not act as machine throw algorithms. The user consent for the cookies in the category `` other is that of consequentialism?. 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