Ethical Theories Essays

  • A Comparison of John Stuart Mill and Immanuel Kant's Ethical Theories

    3195 Words  | 7 Pages

    Compare Mill and Kant's ethical theories; which makes a better societal order? John Stuart Mill (1808-73) believed in an ethical theory known as utilitarianism. There are many formulation of this theory. One such is, "Everyone should act in such a way to bring the largest possibly balance of good over evil for everyone involved." However, good is a relative term. What is good? Utilitarians disagreed on this subject. Mill made a distinction between happiness and sheer sensual pleasure. He defines

  • Consequentialism: An Ethical Theory

    833 Words  | 2 Pages

    Consequentialism is an ethical theory that evaluates the consequences of a person’s action to determine if their actions are right or wrong (Slote 34). According to the theory, a morally right act is one that has more good outcomes than bad ones. In this ethical theory, the end justifies the means; hence, it argues that people should first determine the good and bad consequences of actions before they do them. After determining the total outcomes, it is important to investigate whether the total

  • Ethical Theories: Egoistic Theories and Psychological Egoism

    1857 Words  | 4 Pages

    What I want to do in this paper is to present the 3 different egoistic theories, explain them in brief , and then focus on psychological egoism, presenting its argument, responding to the different criticisms and see in the end if its thesis begs the question or not. The human actions and motivations have been an issue which philosophers argued on. Several ethical theories were proposed in order to justify or explain the human actions. We can justify the human actions by claiming normativity “what

  • Is Ethical Egoism A Good Moral Theory

    1066 Words  | 3 Pages

    Ethical Egoism is defined as “The theory that the right action is the one that advances one’s own best interests. One’s only moral duty is to promote the most favorable balance of good over evil for oneself. Each person must put his or her own welfare first”. (Lecture notes) Is ethical egoism a good moral theory? I believe that being ethical egoism fails as moral theory because it’s important to have self-interest before having interest in others. Ethical egoism is logically inconsistent because

  • The Ethical Theory Of Utilitarianism

    807 Words  | 2 Pages

    Utilitarianism is Morally Wrong In this paper I will be explicating in depth the ethical theory of Utilitarianism. I will be analyzing the controversy surrounding the theory, as well as the related topics of consequentialism and the idea of what is intrinsically and extrinsically valuable. Utilitarianism, the idea that the best moral decision is the decision that benefits the most people, is a morally wrong ethical theory as it devalues individuals rights and freedoms for the betterment of others. As

  • Ethical Leadership Theory

    828 Words  | 2 Pages

    to explain how people become leaders: the trait leadership theory, the great event theory and the process leadership theory (Bass, 1990). Trait theory is a situation where some personality traits may lead people naturally into leadership roles. A crisis or important event may cause a person to rise to the occasion, which brings out extraordinary leadership qualities in an ordinary person; this is the Great Events Theory.The process theory is a situation when leadership skills are learnt. According

  • Virtue Ethics: Deontological and Eudaimonist

    4530 Words  | 10 Pages

    There are two basic types of ethical judgments: deontological judgements that focus on duty and obligation and eudaimonist judgements that focus on human excellence and the nature of the good life. I contend that we must carefully distinguish these two types of judgement and not try to understand one as a special case of the other. Ethical theories may be usefully divided into two main kinds, deontological or eudaimonist, on the basis of whether they take one of the other of these types of judgement

  • Doing the Right Thing in Hamlet

    1739 Words  | 4 Pages

    consequence in two aspects. One aspect is what is called ethical egoism. Ethical egoism is "the idea that morality is defined as acting in one's own interest and in such a way as to maximize the consequences of good over bad" (Freeman 49). In contrast to ethical egoism is utilitarianism. Utilitarianists view morality as when an action promotes the greatest balance of good over bad for all people. "Utilitarianism is a teleological, goal-directed theory emphasizing happiness as the end result of human action"

  • Comparing the Utility of Bentham and Mill

    1916 Words  | 4 Pages

    the greatest number, -- the foundation of utilitarianism. --J. S. Mill. Syn: Usefulness; advantageous; benefit; profit; avail; service. (www.dictionary.com) One of the major players in ethical theories has long been the concept of utilitarianism. Utilitarianism states that in general the ethical rightness or wrongness of an action is directly related to the utility of that action. Utility is more specifically defined as a measure of the goodness or badness of the consequences of an action

  • Cultural Relativism Essay

    1104 Words  | 3 Pages

    Ethics is about doing what is right for other people throughout society (Kraft). Ethical principles result from religions, philosophies, and cultural ideas. The world is changing and so is everything in it, judgments about what is ethically right and wrong are also changing. Ethical relativism is important within society, along with utilitarianism, deontology, virtue-based ethics, and ethical principles of healthcare. Ethical subdivision is a complex way of saying that an individual’s morals, personal

  • Alasdair Macintyre's After Virtue

    3213 Words  | 7 Pages

    it seems to me, to begin with "the way the world is" before we begin to speculate about the way it ought to be. And, the most significant "way the world is" for ethics is that it is individuals in community. This paper attempts to develop an ethical theory based solidly on Whitehead’s metaphysics, and to address precisely the problem of the relation between the good for the individual and the common good, in such a way as to be sympathetic to both. One of the most pervasive problems in theoretical

  • Case Study: Ethical Decision-Making Theory

    1342 Words  | 3 Pages

    service so his son can continue therapy. As a therapist, what should you do when someone 's mental health depends on your services? The best thing to do will be the follow the APA ethical guidelines to help in making the appropriate decision and to use the Canadian Code of Ethics for Psychologist known as the Ethical Decision Making Process. Bartering in therapy can be polarizing because some frown upon it while others embrace

  • Introduction to Ethics

    1240 Words  | 3 Pages

    what is right and what is wrong. Which are usually defined by society, as to what is acceptable and what is not. As time goes on, society evolves, so do the right and wrongs, our values and morals, and ethics. In philosophy, there were three ethical theories by Aristotle, Kant, and Bentham & Mill and they were the “Golden Mean”, “Categorical Imperative”, and “Greatest Good for the Greatest Number” respectively. Aristotle believed the one goal everyone strived for was “happiness” for one’s ownself

  • The Dangers of Objectification

    795 Words  | 2 Pages

    that I am an egoist, or that another student is an altruist, is to imply that egoism or altruism is the essential nature of the person, and that other considerations fade into the background and become unimportant under this veil of the person's ethical philosophy. It is to equate me with egoism, or to equate the other student with relativism. But I am more than Bob the egoist; I am also Bob the philosopher, I am Bob the student, I am Bob the coffee drinker. The name " Bob" points to a definition

  • Consequences are More Significant than Rights

    3894 Words  | 8 Pages

    The priority and absoluteness of rights is often gist for ethical debates. I consider these issues from the perspective of my ethical theory, which I call the "ethics of social consequences." The ethics of social consequences is one means of satisfying non-utilitarian consequentialism. It is characterized by the principles of positive social consequences, humanity, human dignity, legality, justice, responsibility, tolerance as well as moral obligation. I analyze Gewirth’s position regarding the absoluteness

  • Antisthenes' Concept of Paideia

    2373 Words  | 5 Pages

    Concept of Paideia ABSTRACT: Antisthenes of Athens was an older student of Socrates who had previously studied under the Sophists. His philosophical legacy also influenced Cynic and early Stoic thought. Consequently, he has left us an interesting theory of paideia (reading, writing, and the arts) followed by an even more brief one in divine paideia, the latter consisting of learning how to grasp the tenets of reason in order to complete virtue. Once properly grasped, the pupil will never lose it

  • The Thought and Influence of Voltaire

    2613 Words  | 6 Pages

    quotidian details of a society, thus understanding the character of the people behind the events.3[3] This deliberate identification with other cultures is characteristic of the relativism that the philosophes practised and that influenced their ethical theories. Drama aside, V... ... middle of paper ... ...rsity Press, 1959) pp.288-291. 11[11] Gay. p.129. 12[12] Lauer. p.75. 13[13] Voltaire. Portable Voltaire. p.85. 14[14] Wade. p.785. 15[15] Voltaire. Portable Voltaire. p.142. 16[16] Voltaire

  • Ethical Theories

    659 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ethical Theories: Part II Frank P. LoBue III PHIL101-1402A-01 April 21, 2014 Christopher Hubbard Ethical Theories: Part II Social responsibility can be defined as “the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large” (Mallen Baker, 2004). In addition, social responsibility has been defined differently by various corporate leaders

  • Music on the Internet and Copyright Infringement

    3491 Words  | 7 Pages

    Record companies, needless to say, are not very happy about this, neither are many musicians. This paper presents the historical and legal background of this subject. Then, it discusses the morality of such free music services, based on two major ethical theories: consequentialism and contractianism. Introduction The Audio Home Recording Act (AHRA) [1], states: “No action may be brought under this title alleging infringement of copyright based on the manufacture, importation, or distribution

  • Oedipus Rex's Moral Responsibility

    1090 Words  | 3 Pages

    ethics, the term refers to the inner sense of right and wrong in moral choices, as well as to the satisfaction that follows action regarded as right and the dissatisfaction and remorse resulting from conduct that is considered wrong. In earlier ethical theories, conscience was regarded as a separate faculty of the mind having moral jurisdiction, either absolute or as a representative of God in the human soul. Various syntheses of traditional theology with the existential view that knowledge is more