Utilitarianism Vs Deontology

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Before we can get into comparing utilitarianism and deontology, first off we need to explain the very basis of each one. In Ethics there are many ethical theories and dilemmas, some which go hand in hand with each other and some that are in conflict with each other. Utilitarianism and Deontology are two very different ethical theories that are always in conflict with another, I will go into detail to explain both Deontology and Utilitarianism using the book “The Ethical Life” as well as “The Fundamentals of Ethics”.
There are two parts to Utilitarianism, Act and Rule utilitarianism also called extreme and restricted which according to J.J.C Smart “Extreme utilitarianism makes the morality of actions depend entirely on their results, requiring …show more content…

77). In other words, Act utilitarianism the good or benefit one will receive the greatest amount of happiness which will only benefit the person or persons once making it the so called “act”. Rule utilitarianism all though very similar to Act utilitarianism is also somewhat very different, according to J.J.C Smart “by contrast, assesses the rightness of actions based on whether they adhere to rules that, if embraced by all, would yield optimal happiness (The Ethical Ife, Pg. 77). In other words, like I said is pretty much the same as act, but in this approach rule would produce the greatest amount of satisfaction or benefit for the more people who are related to the action being considered; for not only this one act but all other acts as well. All though very similar, something that might fall into Act utilitarianism may not fall under Rule utilitarianism, a good example of act and rule utility would be if someone were to cheat on …show more content…

Like Utilitarianism also has two parts to it, the two to parts to deontology are “The Good Will” and the “Categorical Imperative” are the main proponents to deontology. Immanuel Kant states that “The good will, is the only thing possessed of unconditional value: it is valuable it its own right, in every possible circumstance (The Ethical Life, Pg. 87). An example of “good will” is doing an action because you think it is good does not necessarily make that action that you are committing okay. My example would be killing somebody. If you kill someone in self-defense, you killed somebody in order to save your life that is an okay action on your part, but that still does not make killing

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