Ethical Theories

Ethical Theories

            A key debate in ethical theory is whether ethics can be determined by objective, universal principles. How important the consequences of actions should be in determining an ethical position is also a significant issue.

Do ethics change over time?

            One viewpoint is that ethics do vary between time and place. Slavery for example is now regarded as wrong, whereas in Roman times slavery was acceptable. The view that ethics vary between different ages and different communities is known as ethical relativism. He opposing view is that ethics are unchanging over time and place; some courses of action are always right, others are always wrong. A simple example would be saying that it is always wrong to steal. The view that there are certain unchanging ethical rules is known as ethical absolutism.

What are consequences of decision made based on ethics?

            Some people think that society is best served by all people by adhering specific ethical principles and following them don’t matter what the consequences are. The argument is that people will undermine society if they disobey the ethical rules, even if they do so with the intention of avoiding adverse consequences. This viewpoint known as deontological ethics, developed by Kant. The opposing viewpoint is that you cannot divorce an action from its consequences, and when taking ethical decisions you must take account of what the consequences will be. This viewpoint is known as teleological ethics. If you take this viewpoint, that implies that you have to define what the best possible consequences are, the different variations of the teleological viewpoint try to do this.

What thought processes people should adopt?

            What the theories are aiming to do to complete the following sentence:

“You should act ethically because….

• People who are less ethically developed may think: 'You should act ethically because you’ll be punished if you don't.'
• People who have more advanced ethical development may think: 'You should act ethically because your country's laws say you should.
• People at the highest level of ethical development may think: “You should act ethically because it’s always right to do so, no matter what the consequences and costs are to you personally.