Ethics 101: Major Moral Frameworks
How do we determine right from wrong? Philosophers have proposed several frameworks.
Consequentialism (Utilitarianism)
Core idea: Actions are right if they produce good outcomes.
Utilitarianism (Bentham, Mill): Maximize overall happiness/well-being.
"The greatest good for the greatest number."
- Intuitive in many cases
- Quantifiable (in theory)
- Impartial — everyone's welfare counts equally
- Would you kill one person to save five?
- Measuring happiness is hard
- Could justify violating individual rights for "greater good"
Deontology (Duty-Based Ethics)
Core idea: Some actions are inherently right or wrong, regardless of outcomes.
Kant's Categorical Imperative:
1. Act only according to rules you could will to be universal laws
2. Treat people as ends, never merely as means
"Lying is wrong even if it produces good outcomes."
- Respects individual rights
- Provides clear rules
- Captures moral intuitions about duties
- Rules can conflict (what if lying saves a life?)
- Ignoring consequences seems unreasonable
- How do we determine the rules?
Virtue Ethics
Core idea: Focus on character, not rules or outcomes.
Aristotle: Cultivate virtues (courage, temperance, justice, wisdom) through practice. The goal is eudaimonia (flourishing).
"We are what we repeatedly do."
- Holistic view of moral life
- Accounts for moral development
- Less rigid than rules-based systems
- Which virtues matter?
- Doesn't give clear action guidance
- Culturally variable
Applied Ethics
- Is abortion permissible?
- When is war justified?
- What do we owe future generations?
- How should AI be governed?
There's no consensus. But structured moral reasoning beats moral intuition alone.
Related Reading
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