Comparing Utilitarianism And Deontology

Ethics use different theories for a person to base their decisions on throughout life. Two different theories are utilitarianism and deontological. Most theories relate to the well-being of others and the decisions to help the majority. Austin Cline notes the theory of deontology focuses on a strict obedience to moral rules or duties. Deontology releases a person from their personal emotions in these decisions and they use rules that are general to everyone. Stephen Nathanson suggests that everyone needs to develop their own ethical reasoning abilities because they need principles to support their decisions in life, so they can avoid the sociological and cultural influences within their lives. Morals of honesty, integrity, and concern

Critics of utilitarianism state that the theory ignores an individual’s rights and happiness. The utilitarianism theory states to make decisions based on the greater good and happiness of others. This means that sometimes an individual may not agree with the greater majority but does not necessary mean that the individual is unhappy. A lot of the time too much emphasis is placed on individual rights and it becomes selfish. In general, if everyone worked to make sure that the majority around them were happy it would, in general, make a happier world, therefore creating unity the creation of a world happiness would begin to exist. Deontology is more of an absolute theory not allowing for any gray areas, or differences due to situations. In the situation of telling the truth that an abused woman was hidden somewhere versus lying to prevent her possible death, the gray area exists, because of several maxims at once, which is less is to be determined by whom? Life is not so simple that in every situation that following a rule is the best decision because it could cause a lot of harm to someone, and possibly their death which then the person is responsible for allowing them to be killed. The theory of utilitarianism is superior to deontology, because of the options and flexibility it provides. Utilitarianism offers the opportunity to make decisions for the majority versus the possibility of everyone dying in the rescue missions mentioned above. When a person decides, which option has the greatest good, they should be evaluating the present and future effects the decision will cause to make sure it is morally good. The idea that utilitarianism goes back to, “treat others as you would like to be treated,” this is simply moral for everyone to create world pleasure. This theory from many years ago would still today fix a lot of the issues within the world, treating others equally, that