deontology and the role of the categorical imperative in determining one’s ethical duty
Deontology is an ethical concept that emphasizes mainly on someone’s role in society as a determinant of ethics. The term originates from two Greek words, “deon,” which means duty, and “logos,” which means science (Sacco et al., 2017). This philosophical opposes the traditional idea that the end justifies the means. An action is determined as moral or not based on several characteristics and not on its outcomes. The theory also holds that one is obliged to do some things in life for the sake of morality, regardless of the results (Sacco et al., 2017). It promotes philosophies such as “Let justice be done though the heavens fall.” That means that sometimes one may perform a duty for the sake of doing it, without much consideration to its outcomes.
- Illustrate your understanding of this ethical theory with a concrete example of a moral dilemma.
One of the significant ethical dilemmas related to this theory is when a business person wants to offer low-quality products or services for his profit. Someone makes a comparison of the buying price and the prevailing selling price to know the amount of profit they can make out of a specific item. Sometimes the person may make a loss by selling an item at the prevailing price, a factor that encourages them to employ various approaches that will help them remain in business. Such would include buying items of lower quality and selling them at the same price with the high quality. In such a case, the end would be right for the seller, but the process is unethical.
- Discuss an ethical theory that would take a different approach
Teleology is an ethical theory that opposes deontology in some way. It is also referred to as consequentialist ethics. It is based on the belief that what an action creates is more important than the act itself (Stewart, 2017). Teleology, therefore, promotes the traditional theory that the end justifies the means. Based on the two definitions, one can see that deontology is formalistic, at least to some extent. It focuses more on conformity to a specific way of doing things.