3. What are right actions ?
Right actions are the ones that produce the
greatest satisfaction of the preferences of the
affected persons.
4. Types of ethical theories
Consequentialist
Theories
Non-Consequentialist
Theories
5. Consequentialist Theories
• Consequentialist describes whether an act is morally right depends solely on
consequences .
• Consequentialist theories are sometimes called teleological theories.
7. 1. Ethical Egoism
• Ethical egoism can be understood as a consequentialist theory
according to which the consequences for the individual agent are
taken to matter more than any other result.
• In ethical egoism, a person focuses on her own self-interests before
all others.
• According to this theory the benefit to others is not what makes an
action right, however an action is right only insofar as it is to one’s
own advantage.
• We have no duty except to do what is best for ourself.
8. Ethical Egoism
• Sometimes one’s interests may happen to coincide with the interests of
others—in that by helping oneself, one will coincidentally help them, too.
An example of ethical egoism would be a person who invites a friend to a movie
that she wants to see because she does not want to go alone and is thinking of
her own self-interests first.
9. 2. Ethical Altruism
• Altruism is a consequentialist theory which is defined as a
desire to help others without regard for your own interests
or well-being.
• Altruism prescribes maximizing good consequences for
everyone except the actor.
• According to Ayan Rand’s argument “ If a man accepts the
ethics of altruism, his first concern is not how to live his life,
but how to sacrifice it.”
10. Ethical Altruism
For example, imagine that you saw a child chase a ball into a busy street.You
have two options: first, you could run into the street and pull the child to safety,
risking your own life in the process; second, you could stay safely on the curb
because you know that running into a busy street would put your own safety at
risk. In this case, the first option could be considered altruistic because you
showed no regard for your own safety or well-being and were only concerned
with ensuring the safety of someone else.
11. 3. Ethical Utilitarianism
• Utilitarianism is a theory of moral philosophy that is based on the principle
that an action is morally right if it produces a greater quantity of good or
happiness than any other possible action
• Whether an action is morally right or wrong depends entirely on its
consequences. An action is right if it brings about the best outcome of the
choices available. Otherwise it is wrong.
12. Utilitarianism
Two types of utilitarianism :
Act utilitarianism
Looks at the consequences of each individual act and calculate utility each
time the act is performed.
Rule utilitarianism
Looks at the consequences of having everyone follow a particular rule and
calculates the overall utility of accepting or rejecting the rule.
13. Utilitarianism
An example of act utilitarianism is a pharmaceutical company releasing a
drug that has been governmentally approved with known side effects
because the drug is able to help more people than are bothered by the minor
side effects. Act utilitarianism often shows “the end justifies the means”
mentality.
14. Non – Consequentialist Theories
• Consequences should not be considered
• Completely based on freewill
16. 1. Duty or Deontological Theories
• Deontological (duty-based) theories are of the view that morality of an action
is solely dependent on the quality of action. i.e., whether it follows a rule ,
irrespective of the consequences of that action.
• Consequences do NOT matter !
• Morality depends only on the intension behind the act.
17. Duty or Deontological Theories
• One example of deontological theory is Kant’s Duty
Ethics proposed by Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)
• According to him ,the morality of an action is based
on the rightness or wrongness of the action itself, not
on the consequence of the action.
• As rational beings we must follow certain maxims and
rules .
18. 2. Virtue Ethics
• Virtue Ethics orVirtueTheory recognizes the goodness of mind and character
as the pivotal elements of ethics and moral philosophy.
• To be virtuous is to have a virtuous character.
• According to Aristotle virtues are derived internally .
• Anything too much should be discarded .
• A perfect balance point have to be find.This principle is called golden medal
19. Virtue Ethics
For example , an excess courage will tend to make a person reckless whereas
a total lack of it makes him a coward.
Cowardice Recklessness
Deficiency Excess
One must find the right balance between cowardice and recklessness COURAGE
20.
21. RIGHT ACTON IS WHEN THE RIGHT PEOPLE
DO RIGHT THING FOR RIGHT REASONS AT
THE RIGHT TIME .
THAT ABOUT SUMS UP SUCCESS !
- Rhoberta Shaler
