Consequentialism and Deontology

In Chapter 2, LaFollette (2007) discusses Consequentialism and Deontology. Discuss your thoughts on these two theories.

            Consequentialism, this is something that we have been dealing with throughout our entire lives. Since we are toddlers we are constantly dealing with the consequences of good and bad behavior. Of course as we grow older, the consequences can become much more severe than rather we get a prize or quiet time in the corner.

Consequences can exist in three different dimensions, “which consequences we should count, how much weight or consideration we should give those that do count, and how we should use these considerations when deliberating” (La Folette, 2007, pg. 25). It seems that ethics revolve greatly around consequences, our text gives us the example of a son who has a sick father in the hospital and just heard that his father’s sister has passed away. The son has to decide rather he tells his father the news, even though it could further jeopardize his health, or he can wait another week until his father is much healthier.

Proper ethics are not as simple as one would believe, one has to take the consequences into consideration if one is to arrive at the correct ethical answer. Coming to the correct ethical decision is based on how we weight out the consequences and what is the best decision. Weighing out the consequences is not an easy choice but it is a skill which many humans have been working on since early childhood.

It is important how we put into practice the three dimensions of consequentialism when we are working on the correct ethical decision which we must make. Sometimes these decisions may even come faster than we can even think of a good response, our decision then becomes instinct. In last week’s assignment we had the example of a man who has to choose which lives to save when they are faced by an oncoming train while being in control of the switch, this switch can move the train in either direction; no matter the outcome one or many lives will be lost. These are hard decisions to make and one must live with the consequences which may come from their actions.

 It seems that consequentialism is severely based on the negative aspect of consequences. Many times in consequentialism we will realize that we say things like do not steal or you will go to jail, this is a negative consequence which governs our actions. Essentially we are not being good because we want to be, we are being good because we do not want to feel any pain.

Deontology attacks ethics from the opposite spectrum, in deontology we do good things for the mere fact that it makes us feel better. Deontology has become an appealing way for many people to instill ethic in others. Deontology has two marks in its favor; “one, it reflects the way most of us acquired and developed our moral beliefs, and two, it’s main competitor is subject to seemingly serious criticisms” (La Folette, 2007, pg. 31). Many people believe that consequentialism is flawed because it plays no role in moral growth, it promotes people behaving well because they fear the consequences and not because they enjoy being good.

The core basics of Deontology are very basic yet complex at the same time. In deontology morality is a set of rules, some rules are weightier than others. We come to the conclusion of good ethics in deontology based off of our own decisions and what we find to be more important. This way of thinking depends heavily on your own personal way of thinking and morals which you are raised with.

Between consequentialism and deontology, these are two methods of how we come up with ethical decisions in life. I believe that both ways have their pros and cons, giving people an ultimatum is not always the best path towards helping an individual become a productive member of society. On the other hand, certain people need boundaries to keep their behavior in check. There is a lot to consider when counseling an individual and their progress towards proper ethics and good moral decision making. These are two techniques which need to be evaluated and perhaps a balanced mixture can help individuals make better decisions in life.

References:

 LaFollette, H. (2007). The practice of ethics. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.