This document provides an overview of different ethical theories: 1. Utilitarianism determines right and wrong based on outcomes and producing the greatest good for the greatest number. However, it can be difficult to predict consequences and harming minorities is problematic. 2. Deontology uses rules to determine right and wrong, such as not lying or stealing. Actions are defined by intentions rather than consequences. However, rigidly following rules can produce unacceptable results. 3. Virtue ethics examines character rather than actions. It considers traits like temperance and intelligence when evaluating unethical behavior. Advantages include a broader conception of ethics focused on relationships. 4. Relativism deems moral obligations and beliefs

1. SHRI VAISHNAV VIDYAPEETH VISHWAVIDYALAYA
INDORE (M.P.)
Department of Information Technology
Year 2020-2021
Guided By: Submitted By:
Prof. Manisha Pipariya Anirudh Agrawal
Pranjal Joshi
Radhika Darak
Ronit Shrivastava

2. Human Values & Professional Ethics
Theory of Ethics

3. 1. What are Ethics?
2. Ethical Theories
3. Difference between Ethics and Morality
4. Types of Ethical Theories
4.1 Utilitarian
4.2 Deontology
4.3 Virtue Ethics
4.4 Relativism
Content:

4. What are Ethics?
➢ Ethics serve as a guide to moral daily living and helps us judge whether
our behavior can be justified.
➢ Ethics refers to society’s sense of the right way of living our daily lives.
➢ It does this by establishing rules, principles, and values on which we can
base our conduct.
What are Ethics?

5. Ethical Theories:
➢ Ethical theories are thus formal statements about what we ought to do,
when faced with an ethical dilemma. Is it, for example, wrong to tell a lie,
even if we thereby avoid making somebody sad?
➢ Ethical Theory is the systematic effort to understand moral concepts and
justify moral principles and theories.
➢ Each moral theory holds a specific approach in how to handle life’s
decisions. Throughout history, a few moral theories have surfaced and have
been analyzed for their strengths and weaknesses.
➢ A moral theory often shapes a person’s attitude toward others, belief
system and life choices.

6. Difference between Ethics and Morality:

7. Types of Ethical Theories:
There are mainly 4 types of Ethical Theories in the western world:
1. Utilitarianism
2. Deontology
3. Virtue ethics
4. Relativism

8. Utilitarianism:
➢Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that determines right from wrong by
focusing on ‘Outcomes’.
➢It is a form of consequentialism.
➢ This holds that the most ethical choice is the one that will produce the
greatest good for the greatest number.
➢Utilitarianism is a moral theory that implements fair choices in an effort to
ensure the least amount of harm is done to all parties involved.

9. Utilitarianism:
➢ It is the only moral framework that can be used to justify military force or war
and also the most common approach to moral reasoning used in business
because of the way in which it accounts cost and benefit
➢ However , because we cannot predict the future, it’s difficult to know with
certainty whether the consequences of our action will be good or bad.
➢ Harming the minority and benefitting a majority doesn’t build the mutually
beneficial relationship

10. Utilitarianism:
➢For example, assume a hospital has 4 people whose lives depends upon
receiving organ transplants such as a heart, kidney , liver and lungs , if a
healthy person roaming into the hospital, his organ could be harvested to save
four lives at the expense of one life.
➢This would arguably produce the greatest good for the greatest number. But
few would consider it an acceptable course of action.
➢Another example, Julie walks into a hostage situation. There are 20 hostages
and she is told that if she shots one hostage, she will save the lives of the other
19. Utilitarianism would support Julie’s killing of one of the hostages because
the other 19 lives are a greater benefit, regardless of the fact that the cost
would be one person’s life.

11. ⮚ Derived from the Greek word “deon” meaning “duty”.
⮚ Deontology is an ethical theory that uses rules to distinguish right
from wrong.
⮚ It is often associated with philosopher Immanuel Kant who
believed that ethical actions follow universal moral laws, such as-
Don’t lie, Don’t steal , Don’t cheat.
⮚ Deontology is simple to apply as it just requires that people follow
the rules and do their duty.
⮚ Unlike consequentialism, which judges actions by their results,
deontology doesn’t require weighing the costs and benefits of a
situation.
Deontology

12. ⮚ A deontologist believes that morality is a responsibility for everyone as well
as a duty.
⮚ Whether something is right or wrong doesn’t depend on consequences,
Actions are right or wrong in themselves.
⮚ For example, if a man steals three loaves of bread and a gallon of milk to
feed his family, it would be supported by deontology because of the moral
responsibility and obligations of the man to care for his family.
⮚ Actions are defined by intensions, e.g. the difference between the murder
and killing in self defense.
Deontology

13. Deontology:
⮚ Despite its strengths, rigidly following deontology can produce results that
many people find unacceptable.
⮚ For ex- suppose a nuclear missile is about to launch that might start a war
and you as a software engineer can hack the network and cancel the launch
but it’s against your professional code of ethics to break into any software
system without permission.And it’s a form of lying and cheating. Deontology
advices not to violate this rules. However, in letting the missile launch,
thousands of people will die..
⮚ So following the rules make deontology easy to apply. But it also means
disregarding the possible consequences of our actions when determining
what is right and what is wrong

14. Virtue Ethics:
⮚ Virtue is very distinct from other ethics theories in that it looks at a
person’s individual character, not necessarily his actions.
⮚ When observing an unethical position, the virtue theory considers
the person's reputation and purpose for committing the act.
⮚ If a high school student is temperate, modest, witty and intelligent
and plagiarized on a class writing assignment, the virtue theory would
analyze the student's past personality traits and interpersonal skills in
order to determine whether the student is truly guilty.
⮚ Virtue = Skills or Excellence

15. Examples of Virtue:
--The main virtue of a racehorse is to be fast.
--The main virtue of a knife is to be sharp.
--A soldier needs to be physically brave.
--But there are also virtues that it is good for any human being to possess, the
qualities that enable them to live a good life and to flourish as a human being.

16. There are 2 Categories of Virtue:
Intellectual Virtues:
● Intellectual Virtues are virtues of mind.
● Such as the ability to understand, reason and make sound
judgement.
● Intellectual virtues may be taught, like logic and mathematics by
teachers.

17. Moral Virtues:
Not innate. Rather they are acquired through repetition and
practice, like learning a music instrument.
It is through the practice and the doing that one becomes a type of
person.
Over a period of time virtues become second nature.

18. The Advantages of Virtue Ethics:
➢ Virtue ethics offers a broader conception of ethics in general.
➢ It avoids the inflexibilities of rule-oriented ethics.
➢ Because it is concerned with character, with what kind of person one is,
virtue ethics pays more attention to inner states and feelings as opposed
to focusing exclusively on actions.
➢ Virtue ethics has also opened the door to some novel approaches and
insights pioneered by feminist thinkers who argue that traditional moral
philosophy has emphasized abstract principles over concrete interpersonal
relationships.

19. Relativism:
⮚ Relativism is a theory that deems your moral obligations and beliefs to
be based on the individual environment.
⮚ There is no moral knowledge.
⮚ Relativism argues that every society and culture believes differently
and thus, each culture must be evaluated according to its particular
cultural patterns and influences.