Deontology or Utilitarianism?

Musée du Bardo, Tunisia
Picture taken by Jonathan Acuña (2019)
Deontology or Utilitarianism?
What is governing our morals?
In terms of deontology, “we are morally required to do certain things

because we have certain moral duties or obligations to each other” (The Open
University, 2020 [a]). Many people around the world are beseeching national and
local governments nautely not to desert them, but then they get to discover that
75% of the world’s wealth is in the bank accounts of a handful of individuals. If
the richest 20% of the population on the world get about 75% of the world’s
income, what are they morally required to do for people who live with less than
US$5.50 a day (about US$165 per month)? A country like Bangladesh, e.g., which
houses thousands of sweatshops for many affluent investors of all kinds of clothing
companies, is -deontologically speaking- being mistreated as a means to get more
and more profit for wealthy people’s companies. What rules should then govern
everybody to righteously rule the way they treat others especially when financial
resources are in the way?
This is not about a mother who admonishes her children for being unfair
with one another when she gives them their allowances. There ought to be rules
everyone would “reasonably choose to govern the way they treat each other” (The
Open University, 2020 [a]). Based on Immanuel Kant (Manson, n.d.), “each person
must never be treated only as a means to some other end, but must also be treated
as an end themselves.” Going back to the sweatshops in Bangladesh, these
individuals are being treated as a means to get more profit for affluent investors’
companies; these Bangladeshi workers are not being treated as an end themselves
in which their lives, as well as their families, can become a better, more stable one
with food served ready to be eaten, clean warm clothing to wear, financial
resources to provide their children with education and a safe place to live.
Deontology “sees people as a source of value and never just as a tool to help
achieve some desirable outcome” (The Open University, 2020 [a]). And this is not
a callous comment, but poverty is a global issue many people avoid’s.
From a utilitarian standpoint, Bangladeshi sweatshop workers’ happiness

and wellbeing do not count equally when compared to the affluent investors’ way
of living. If utilitarianism helps individuals decide “primarily on the rightness or
wrongness of policies or actions in terms of what they bring about: their results
and consequences” (The Open University, 2020 [b]), not much it is being done to
bring wellbeing to those sweatshop workers (along with their families) or to
minimize any feeling of unhappiness or threat of social harm (or injustice) they
suffer. Utilitarianism also considers that in order to “lessen harm and maximise
good overall” (The Open University, 2020 [b]), any affluent investors’ right could
be sacrificed, something -of course- that is not perceived with a fine candor by the
Bangladeshi’s bosses.
Ethical rules people should live by are unfortunately not backed up by legal
or political structures in all countries around the world. Deontologists who can
gather round policy makers can help them consider rational individuals in their
countries “as an end in themselves and not as a means to something else” (British
Broadcasting Corporation, 2014). Workers, e.g., are not tools to more affluent lives
if they barely have something to eat. Utilitarian ethicists can aid governmental
officials and congresspeople to consider that “everyone’s happiness and wellbeing
counts equally” (The Open University, 2020 [b]). By all the unwritten laws of
morality humans live by, the pursuit of happiness and wellbeing is not exclusive of
the richest 20% of the population on the world who get about 75% of the world’s
income; it is part of what humankind aspires to get.
References
British Broadcasting Corporation. (2014). An End-in-itself. Retrieved November 19, 2020, from
BBC.CO.UK.
Manson, M. (n.d.). The One Rule for Live. Retrieved November 19, 2020, from https://markmanson.net/:
https://markmanson.net/the-one-rule-for-life
The Open University. (2020 [a]). Global Ethics and Duties. Retrieved November 8, 2020, from
FutureLearn.Com: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/global-ethics/3/steps/905608
The Open University. (2020 [b]). Good and Bad Results, Harms and Wellbeing. Retrieved November 8,
2020, from FutureLearn.Com: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/global-
ethics/3/steps/905609

Deontology or Utilitarianism?

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Deontology or Utilitarianism?

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Deontology or Utilitarianism?

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Musée du Bardo, Tunisia

Picture taken by Jonathan Acuña (2019)

In terms of deontology, “we are morally required to do certain things

From a utilitarian standpoint, Bangladeshi sweatshop workers’ happiness

You might also like