A deontological ethical system is one that is concerned solely with the inherent nature of the act being judged. If an act is inherently good, then even if it results in bad consequences, it is still considered a good act. Teleological systems judge the consequences of an act. An act might look bad, but if it results in good consequences, then it can be defined as good under a teleological system. Ethical formalism is a deontological system because the important determinant for judging whether an act is moral is not its consequence, but only the motive or intent of the actor.
According to Kant, the only thing that is intrinsically good is a good will. For example, a friend stops by another friend’s apartment to visit and finds him struggling to breathe, and was grasping at his chest. He dials 911 and then having remembered a commercial for Bayer aspirin that mentioned taking an aspirin during a heart attack can help, she goes into her purse and gets an aspirin to give to her friend while they are awaiting the arrival of rescue crews. After giving him the aspirin, his symptoms worsen and by the time paramedics arrive, the man was dead.
After autopsy, information was revealed that the man died from an allergic reaction to acedimenaphin, not because of the heart attack. Even though the man died due to the actions of the woman, ethical formalism believes that because her intention was to give him the medication to help him, her intentions were good, even though the result was bad. Ethical formalism also believes that what is considered wrong is wrong no matter what. There is no justification for Murder, in the eyes of ethical formalism, and believes that no good can come from a person taking another person’s life intentionally.
Utilitarianism is a teleological ethical system: what is good is determined by the consequences of the action. For example, a family and their two dogs go out on a boat ride and ended up being stranded on an island with no food. Even though they love their pets, they chose to kill them and eat them to provide food for their children and used their fur to keep warm. Even though many people find their pets to be like their children, and animal organizations see no reason for killing animals, they did what they had to do to survive, which under the utilitarianism was a moral choice.
Religion might be defined as a body of beliefs that addresses fundamental issues such as “What is life? ” and “What is good and evil? ” A religion also provides moral guidelines and directions on how to live one’s life. For instance, Christians and Jews are taught the Ten Commandments, which prohibit certain behaviors defined as wrong. For example, if a person decided to give to the poor out of the kindness of their heart it is deemed as being a good act but, if the person does it with the intentions of gaining notoriety or anything else, thank God says this is wrong.
Natural law ethical system, there is a universal set of rights and wrongs that is similar to many religious beliefs, but there is no reference to a specific supernatural figure. For instance, a person breaks into a home and takes a family hostage. After a few hours of watching his family being victimized, the father decided to take action and fight back. During the struggle with the assailant, the gun goes off mortally wounds the attacker. Natural law would say that the father’s act was considered to be good based on the fact that he was doing what was natural to him; defending his family.
Ethics of virtue instead asks the question, “What is a good person? ” This ethical system rejects the approach that one might use reason to discover what is good. Instead, the principle is that to be good, one must do well. For instance, a doctor in the emergency room gets a visit from a friend who is there for the intentions of getting the doctor to write a prescription for pain medications. However, the doctor finds nothing wrong with the friend and gives him samples of Tylenol instead. The thought never entered his mind that his friend was a drug seeker and depended on their friendship to get the medication.
Instead, the doctor applied his medical expertise to the situation and the act was considered good because he has always done well, and was not tempted to do otherwise Ethics of care is another ethical system that does not depend on universal rules or formulas to determine morality. The emphasis is on human relationships and needs. The ethics of care has been described as a feminine morality because women in all societies are the child bearers and consequently seem to have a greater sensitivity to issues of care.
If a person was injured severely in an automobile accident and was put on life support, they would not be able to make decisions for themselves. The next of kin is responsible for making a decision on whether to care for the person or to take them off life support. The next of kin then decides that they are going to take the person off life support because they feel that they would not want to live like that and that their quality of life would be diminished if they chose to keep the person on life support. This ethical dilemma would be a justifiable moral choice, according to the ethics of care.
Egoism postulates that what is good for one’s survival and personal happiness is moral. The extreme of this position is that all people should operate on the assumption that they can do whatever benefits themselves. For example, a student attends Western International University to obtain their degree, but they can find no time to study or do their work so they employ someone else who does not attend the University, to do work for them. Under the egoism ethical system, this person would consider the choice moral because they will gain their degree, even though it is considered cheating.
However, because it made them happy, it is considered moral. I think that Ethical formalism, Religion, Ethics of virtue, and Egoism falls under the deontological system because our duties, rules, and obligations are determined by God, not getting judge by the act. Now Ethics of care, Natural law, and Utilitarianism falls under the teleological system because it believes that if the action results in what can be considered as a good consequence, than it must be good and that the result will justify the reason that the act was committed in the first place.
I would have to say that the Natural Law matches my beliefs, when someone does something to you or your family it is considered self-defense as long as they come at you first, so to me the natural law matches my beliefs.
Reference Page Entry Thomson, . , & Wadsworth, . (2005). Determining moral behavior. Retrieved from University of Phoenix eBook Collection . Herdrich, K. , Reese, G. , & Dotree, P. (2008, February). Business and finance legal. Deontological Vs. Teleological Ethical Systems in Criminal Justice, (), .