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Lesson 3: Consequentialism and Deontology
Consequentialism is an ethical stance that claims that what makes an action right is that the action produces the best outcome of all the other possible actions that one might contemplate. So even if the action might feel wrong, it is the outcome that matters. For instance, if you could stop a murder from happening but it required that you kill the attacker, then the wrongness of your killing would be counterbalanced by the beneficial outcome of the life or lives you saved. There are a number of consequentialist ethical theories but the most influential at this time is known as Utilitarianism. We will see that there is a bit of complexity to this idea but for our purposes here, we can say that the consequence that a Utilitarian cares about the most is creating outcomes that benefit as many people as possible. Using our example above, stopping one killer is clearly good for the potential victim, but if we could. Perhaps, find ways of keeping people from becoming violent in the first place we could save even more potential victims and that would be an even better outcome. Let’s look at this idea in more detail.
Watch this video and then read this this detailed article on Utilitarianism.
Assignment 5: Writing reflection 200-400 words posted in the comments section below (Please lable this comment as "Assignment 5"—Imagine you are writing a program but you wanted to do so in a way that expresses utilitarianism in the way you distribute the program to users. How might you achieve this?
Deontology: As we have seen, utilitarianism makes some people nervous beciase it seems to allow for actions that seem unethical to be done in the name of maximising good outcomes for the most people. If we could make the lives of many people better at the expense of the lives of a very few, then a utilitarian would have to accept that, if there were no better alternatives. this kind of cost-benifit analysis is done all the time. We know that around fortythousand people will be killed in automobile accidents this year and another large amout due to disease that is caused by thier emmissions but we do not ban cars becuase of the other ways that they benifit society outways this cost. We do not know exactly who these victims will be until after the damage is done so we can't do much to prevent this damage. The victims just ahve to take one for the team, but of course if you are the one that is directly effected, you may begin to seriously question this calculus.
Science fiction is full of wonderful examples of utilitarian logic gone bad. One truely great one is the short story, "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas," by Ursula K. Le Guin. In this story we are told of a beautiful idylic town called Omelas, whose citizens are happy, well fed, and content. Later we learn that all this goodness comes at the cost of one small child who is locked in a closet and caused to suffer its entire life. The citizens of Omelas all know that the child is there but console themselves in the knowledge that the childs suffering brings them all so much good so they have come to accept it. But some of the citizens can not bear the injustice of the suffering child and they walk away from the town. A philosopher who would be leading the march away from Omelas would be Immanuel Kant. Kant formed a very diferent set of ethical belifes based on the idea that the consequences of ones actions do not matter, what makes an action ethical is that it proceedes from a good will that is motivated by logically defensible moral commands. This kind of ethical theory is known as "deontology" which is just a greek work that means the science of duty.
Please watch this video and then read this article on Deontology.
Kant's Ethics
Assignment 6: Writing reflection posted in the comments section below (pleae label this "Assignment 6"—Give an example of deontological thinking that you have witnessed either in your own actions or the actions of others close to you.
Please comment on at least two other posts from your community. For these comments just label them with the community member's name who's work you are commenting on.
Assignment #6
An example of Deontological thinking that I have partaken in was a few weeks ago. My boyfriend and I went to Berkeley and had to park in a parking garage, while returning to the parking garage to pay our ticket we had noticed that there was a credit card that was left on the pay booth. We assumed that it was from the girl who was in line right before us, so after paying our ticket we waited by the exit to find her leaving. After flagging her down to return the card it ended up not being hers and she said that she had noticed it was there as well. We ended up giving the card to an employee so that way they could store it in a lost and found. This is a Deontological example because the returning of lost property such as money, a phone, wallet, etc. should be a universal law. Unfortunately there are far too many people out there who would have taken that card and tried to use it, or who find something that is not theres and will take it.
Samantha Levy: I really liked your Deontological thinking example! I also use only animal cruelty free products and foods. Animals are so innocent and don't have a voice to stand up for themselves, people take advantage of that which is heartbreaking!
Natalie Keys: For the most part I agree with you; however, there have been some instances where I believe the waiter/waitress did not deserve the tip because of their attitude and their service was just awful that I did not believe that they deserved the extra money.
Assignment #5
After watching the video and reading the article on utilitarianism, my understanding utilitarianism is when an action is done to increase the happiness of others and is done for the greater good of the group. There is a lot of ‘complexity’ with this theory. If I was writing a program and wanted to express utilitarianism to distribute the program to multiple users there would be a few crucial steps that would be required. The first crucial step is that I would need to somehow place each user into a specific category because according to the video on utilitarianism, “One person’s happiness is not worth more than any other”, so by having the users be category specific I am able focus on maximizing the happiness of each group. Without doing this one person may feel as though another person is overshadowing them resulting in a decrease of their happiness. The second crucial step is that I would need to set aside what I believe is morally and ethically correct because according to the article, “utilitarianism is generally held to be the view that the morally right action is the action that produces the most good”. This means that the ethical and moral choice or action can be forfeited for the greater good and happiness of the group. With these two steps I believe that I will successfully express utilitarianism to many users.
Hi Zoe Hill,
While I was reading your post, I thought about illegally downloading music. I myself have learned how to illegally download music. Although I’ve felt bad for doing something illegal and not paying the artist for the hard work they did to make the music, I use an utilitarianism way of thinking to make myself feel better. I thought, “well everyone else does it, so it can’t be THAT bad.” No matter the way I thought about it to make myself feel better, it was still wrong to do, and the artist suffers because of it.
Hi Samantha Noriega,
I almost put my mom down as my example for deontological thinking. I feel like parents have this good will to do good for their kids. They will do anything to help their kids and protect them and love them. My mom is so selfless. She takes care of us before herself all the time. She will work herself out so that my brothers and I have something to eat. My mother is an example of deontological thinking.
Assignment 6
An example of deontological thinking that I can think of is nursing.
In general, nurses have wanted to help others in need from the good will of their hearts.
I can think of a specific example where a nurse had the desire to do good. A patient was in the end of her life, on hospice care, where we make a patient as comfortable as possible in the last days of their life. She noticed that this patient was not as comfortable as they could be. She had the good will in her heart to do everything possible for this patient. She talked to the doctor and received orders from the doctor to give more medications to make this patient comfortable. The nurse paid more attention to this dying patient and gave her morphine and atropine drops to help make her more comfortable. She had the good will in her heart to do good for this patient.
This is only one of the many examples I can think that this nurse does to do good. But overall, this nurse strives to do good from the good will of her heart. There have been many times where she has helped me, and other new nurses with our work. She takes care of other patients who she may not be assigned to, out of the goodness of her heart to want to help.
Assignment 5
Utilitarianism is doing good for the most amount of people.
If I was writing a program that expressed utilitarianism, I would have to think about what would give the most amount of people happiness or good things.
I would have to begin by considering what makes the most amount of people happy. I would also have to think about what could I give a large amount of people something good. The one thing I can think of that makes a lot of people happy is humor. People like to laugh, and laughter brings happiness. I could write a program that expresses utilitarianism in the way I distribute it is by making the program free to everyone.
Let’s say I would write a program of something humorous that makes a lot of people happy, a book or a show, perhaps. Although I would want to sell the program, to be able to make an income for my work, using a utilitarianism way to distribute the program, I could make it free. A lot of people would be happy because they would have a program that makes them happy for free, but I would suffer because I wouldn’t have an income to support my work. A large amount of people would be happy despite my poorness.
Assignment 6:
An example of deontology in my personal life would be my choice of using animal cruelty free products and foods. I personally believe that it is morally wrong to abuse animals for the benefit of humans which goes along somewhat with patient-centered deontological theories (the rights) as well as agent-centered deontological theories (the duty). It is my moral choice to do all I can to not give companies who condone animal abuse and/or testing my money. This is how I show my support for animal rights and doing what I can to try and put an end to it.
Assignment 5:
I would want my program to be very individual for each participant. Everyone has different intrinsic values and things that make them happy. By doing this I think I would do good for the majority. By knowing what makes everyone happy there is bound to be overlap which would give me the data in order to make the best program that works for the most people. The program would be held to high moral and ethical standards and being as fair and equal to all things and people as possible (of course nothing is perfect). Even though Utilitarianism says that if it is beneficially good for most it does not matter if it may be unethical in the eyes of some, I believe if many people who are somewhat moral think it is ‘pretty good’ it is most likely ethical. Utilitarianism includes aspects of Hedonism like pleasure but instead of pleasure no matter what it also has moral caps. If it is the most beneficial for everyone then it is acceptable, unlike Hedonism, where if it is good for you then its good. Another aspect that is important for this program is that no one would get special treatment not even myself or my loved ones. Everyone is equal as I said earlier and no one is entitled to more happiness than the other, unless your happiness comes from actions that are morally corrupt.
Hi Kimberly Laivo, I really enjoyed reading your thoughts on Utilitarianism in Assignment 5. I think that conducting a survey to best tailor the program to your users is an awesome idea. It helps to ensure that the consumers are happy overall by computing the data you find from the survey to adjust your program. Great job!
Hi Alison Prunauer, I really appreciated your example of the cell-phone usage while driving as an example for deontological thinking. I agree that what is considered bad-driving has changed with the laws and what may have been okay to do in the past is now unethical. Your response to assignment 6 really helped me grasp the concept of deontology better!
Assignment #6:
My uncle works for the Board of Home Permits and Inspections for the county and was recently confronted with having to face a moral dilemma in deciding whether or not to report a friend who was building a house from the ground up without any permits. He was put in a hard situation because he knew that it was unethical of the friend to be going against the law and build without a permit but also felt personal guilt for reporting a friend he has known for years. It was obvious to him that in order to fully do his job and to not put his job in jeopardy he needed to report the house. While expressing his ethical dilemma to the family, some were coming up with a more Utilitarianism approach, which was that acting as if the information heard was beneficial to the greater number of people, implying his friend who was building the house, and his family rather than his work. They also thought of the many possible solutions so that both parties would be able to be happy and carry on. He ultimately used deontological thinking and carried out with reporting the house. He knew no matter what the end consequence with his friend was, that it was unethical and he needed to do the right thing. He also knew that by not reporting this incident would put another maxim in the universe that would send a message that acts like this are tolerated when they are not. He had to treat this incident like any other case and not put personal feelings into it.
Kimberly Laivo:
That's a very interesting example, showing what happens when two people act on what they think is right, but their interpretations of that are different. Also, the ethical guidelines each follow are different.
Jonna Elvin:
I too dislike having to lie for the sake of societal code, especially in atmospheres of customer service. It seems like lying for the sake of doing what's right in terms of customer service could be considered deontological. Or, perhaps it is not, and it is actually egoist because it is focused on the outcome of happy customer rather than the correct intention in the first place which would be to be honest.