Kant Deontology

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All humans are grown to follow rules or principles in life, and every individual has their own vision on ethics. Deontology is a theory stating that everyone is morally obliged to follow a certain set of rules and regulation in order to be ethical. In this essay, I will be examining the ideals of deontology and discussing why it is morally incorrect to lie based on this theory. Firstly, one must gather the concept behind deontology. Deontology is derived from the Greek word deon, meaning duties . The basis of the theory is that everyone should behave accordingly to the rules and follow proper orders, regardless of the consequences they might face in doing so. The most famous theorist of deontology is Immanuel Kant, who created the concept …show more content…

However knowing that, deontology is not a perfected ideal in itself either; otherwise it would be more than just a theory. A flaw I found in Kant’s theory is that universal law cannot be applied to everything or every action. In some cases it might be morally correct to lie or commit an otherwise harmful action. If you are lying to protect someone or in order to not hurt their feelings, lying might cause less harm to them than telling the truth. Another example could be the heated topic of euthanasia. If someone is suffering from a terminal illness and wishes to die on their own terms, they might believe they are obligated to euthanasia. However under categorical imperative, suicide would be morally incorrect as people are doing so to ease their own sufferings. They are doing so to achieve self-benefits, and considered selfish, even if they are in pain. Therefore I believe deontology to be wrong or flawed rather, as it does not address the circumstances that make self-driven actions and goals correct. I think given that each individual’s lives are unique and different, there should be some tolerance to personal actions, goals and the beliefs each person values. Certain laws in the world today are based on the opinions of individuals. Furthermore, as I’ve stated in my examples, deontology also does not help to explain the scenarios that could make it morally acceptable to make an otherwise immoral

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