THEORIES ABOUT
RIGHT ACTION
USES OF THEORIES
• In understanding moral dilemma. They provide clarity, consistency,
systematic and comprehensive understanding.
• 2. It provides helpful practical guidance in moral issues towards the
solution.
• 3. Justifying professional obligations and decisions, and
• 3. In relating ordinary and professional morality.
CRITERIA FOR EVALUATING THEORIES
• The theory must be clear and (coherent) formulated with concepts that are
logically connected.
• It must be internally consistent, i.e., none of its principles conflicts with
any other
• The theory and its defense must depend, only upon facts.
• It must organize basic moral values in systematic and comprehensive
manner. It is to fix priority of values and provide guidance in all situations
• 5. It must provide guidance compatible with our moral
convictions (judgments) about concrete situations. For example,
if an ethical theory says that it is all right for engineers to make
explosive devices without the informed consent of the public,
we can conclude that the theory is inadequate.
UTILITARIAN THEORY
• In the 19th century by Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill
• To help legislators determine which laws were morally best
• Maximization of good consequences
• Good consequences=‘utilities’ or ‘balance of good over evil’
• Weighs the costs and benefits
• Right actions = that produces the greatest satisfaction of the affected
persons
UTILITARIAN THEORY –RIGHT ACTION STEPS
(a) Identify the various courses of action available to us.
(b) Ask who will be affected by each action and what benefits or harms will
be derived from each.
(c) Choose the action that will produce the greatest benefits and the least
harm. The ethical action is the one that provides the greatest good for the
greatest number.
ACT UTILITARIAN RULE UTILITARIAN
• focuses on actions, rather than • stressed on the rules, such as ‘do
on general rules. not steal’, ‘do no harm others’,
‘do not bribe’, as of primary
• An action is right, if it
importance.
generates the most overall good
• individual actions are right
for the most people involved.
when they are required by set of
• Permitted few immoral actions
rules which maximizes the
public good.
DUTY ETHICS
•
DUTY THEORY BY IMMANUEL KANT
• actions are consequences of performance of one’s duties
such as, ‘being honest’, ‘not cause suffering of others’,
‘being fair to others including the meek and week’,
‘being grateful’, ‘keeping promises’
DUTY THEORY BY IMMANUEL KANT-CONTD.
• we have duties to ourselves, as we are rational and autonomous
beings
• We have a duty not to commit suicide; a duty to develop our
talents and a duty to avoid harmful drugs
DUTY THEORY-JOHN ROWL
• Actions that would be voluntarily agreed upon by all persons concerned, assuming
impartiality
• Basis of society is a set of agreements
• The agreed upon principles must not depend on ones place in society
(1) each person is entitled to the most extensive amount of liberty compatible with an
equal amount for others( equal liberty)
(2) differences in social power and economic benefits are justified only when they
are likely to benefit every one, including members of the most disadvantaged groups.
• allow some people with great wealth and power is justified only when all other
groups are benefited.
DUTY THEORY-C.W.D. ROSS
• Based on intuitions
• most duties are prima facie ones; some may have obligatory or
permissible exceptions.
• prima facie duties are intuitively obvious (self-evident), while
fixing priorities among duties
• Criticism-intuitions do not provide sufficient guideline for
moral duty.
VARIOUS ASPECTS OF DUTY ETHICS- CWD ROSS
• 1. Fidelity : duty to keep promises.
• 2. Reparation : duty to compensate others when we harm them.
• 3. Gratitude : duty to thank those who help us.
• 4. Justice : duty to recognize merit.
• 5. Beneficence : duty to recognize inequality and improve the condition of others.
• 6. Self-improvement : duty to improve virtue and intelligence.
• 7. Non-malfeasance : duty not to injure others.
RIGHTS THEORY
• Rights:Immanuel Kant
• Rights serve as a protective barrier, shielding individuals from
unjustified infringement of their moral agency by others
• For every right, we have a corresponding duty of noninterference.
• people have dignity based on their ability to choose freely what they will do with their lives, and
they have a fundamental moral right to have these choices respected.
• It is violation of human dignity to use people in ways they do not freely choose.
• 1. The right to access the truth: We have a right to be told the truth and to be
informed about matters that significantly affect our choices.
• 2. The right of privacy: We have the right to do, believe, and say whatever we
choose in our personal lives so long as we do not violate the rights of others.
• 3. The right not to be injured: We have the right not to be harmed or injured
unless we freely and knowingly do something to deserve punishment or we
freely and knowingly choose to risk such injuries.
• 4. The right to what is agreed: We have a right to what has been promised by
those with whom we have freely entered into a contract or agreement
A.I. MELDEN’S THEORY BASED ON RIGHTS
• We should not harm others’ life, health, liberty or property.
• Welfare rights also for living a decent human life.
• Rights should be based on the social welfare system.
THE RIGHTS THEORY AS PROMOTED BY JOHN LOCKE
• the actions are right, if they respect human rights of
every one affected.
• three basic human rights, namely life, liberty, and
property.
HUMAN RIGHTS
• Liberty Rights & Welfare Rights
• Liberty rights -rights to exercise one’s liberty and stresses duties on other
people not to interfere with one’s freedom
• Welfare Rights- rights to benefit the needy for a decent human life, when
one can not earn those benefits and when those benefits are available in the
society
FEATURES OF LIBERTY RIGHTS
• 1. Rights are natural in so far as they are not invented or created by
government.
• 2. They are universal, as they do not change from country to country.
• 3. They are equal since the rights are the same for all people, irrespective of
caste,race, creed or sex.
• 4. They are inalienable i.e., one cannot hand over his rights to another person
such as selling oneself to slavery.
ECONOMIC RIGHTS
• The consumer is eligible to exercise some rights
• The consumers’ six basic rights are:
Right to Information,Right to Safety, Right to Choice, Right to be Heard,
Right to Redressal, and Right to Consumer Education.
THE VIRTUE THEORY
• Emphasizes on the character rather than the rights or duties.
• golden mean between the extremes of ‘excess’ or ‘deficiency’.
VIRTUE THEORY PROPOSED BY MAC INTYRE
• Aimed at achieving common good and social (internal) good such as social
justice, promotion of health, creation of useful and safe technological
products and services.
• Five types of virtues that constitute responsible professionalism, namely
public-spirited virtues, proficiency virtues, team-work virtues, self-
governance virtues, and cardinal virtues
SELF-REALISATION ETHICS
• Version1 :the self to be realized is defined by caring relationships with
other individuals and society.
• Version 2:called ethical egoism, the right action consists in always
promoting what is good for oneself. No caring and society relationships
are assumed.
JUSTICE THEORY
• How fair is the action?
• Does it treat everyone in the same way, or does it show favoritism and discrimination?
