An Analysis of Theories

There are many theories that cover specific moral believes. The following theories relate either to the consequentialists that belief that, “the rightness of an action depends on the amount of good it produces,” or the non- consequentialists that belief that, “the rightness of an action does not depend entirely on its consequences” ( Vaughn, 2010 , 67 ). My belief is, that life is a mix of both beliefs and their conjoining theories. Also, I believe that every person on Earth has their moments to choose which hat they want to wear, especially when choosing between what is right or wrong at a specific time.

The theory of Act- utilitarianism lies under the consequentialists’ belief system. They believe that, “Right actions are those that directly produce the greatest overall good” ( Vaughn, 2010, 68 ). When a person acts accordingly, or makes choices, they can produce the best outcome overall. This outcome is not only for them, but it is also done in consideration of others. An example of this theory would be making an agreement with a sibling, one sweeping and the other doing dishes for a month, and then one of them decides to stop doing the others chore this would represent a bad choice because it is not done for the better of the deal.

Those who lean towards the Natural Law theory are considered to be non -consequentialists. They believe that “To act morally, they must act naturally” ( Vaughn, 2010, 69 ). By acting natural they are doing the thing that they believe that God, or the higher superhuman being they choose to believe in, dictates. They believe that when you choose the natural choice, you are choosing the right choice. The natural law theory can branch off into the divine command theory. The divine command th...

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...less important things before God in our daily life and our spoken recognitions, are a few of the things that God deems as unnatural and they should not be done without major consequences.

The theory of Kant conflicts the most with my moral beliefs. This theory disagrees with how I believe because it does not have any connections to a person’s moral character. I believe that a person’s moral compass is the most important part of a human being. I agree that good will is a good thing but when you are connected with something good will is automatically connected. It was somewhat hard to decide which theory disagreed with my moral character, because I feel that all these theories have a connecting thread that relates them to each other.

Works Cited

Vaughn, L. (2010). Doing Ethics: Moral Reasoning and Contemporary Issues. New York, NY: W. W Norton & Company, Inc.