Briefly Describe Three Classes of Deontological Theories That Have Been

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The Answer is THEOLOGICAL ETHICS: Classical deontological theory relies on religion.The rules that must be followed are set down in religious literature such as the Bible or the Koran.The rules were established by God.It is thus God's command that we should behave in certain ways.Conforming to God's rules is ethical.Not conforming is unethical.The strictest version of theological ethics requires compliance with God's rules regardless of the circumstances or the consequences.Unethical behaviour will be punished by God.While theological ethics provides a powerful set of duties for many people,philosophers have some doubts about its universal application.Acceptance of the rules requires a faith or belief that is not universal.There are different religions and varying degrees of faith within each religion.However,in most countries the rules of the dominant religion are well accepted as standards of behaviour even if acceptance of the religion itself is less widespread.Thus,in countries like Australia the Judeo-Christian code of behaviour is accepted almost without question by the community.RATIONALISM: The German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)provided an interpretation of the Judeo-Christian view of deontology that has had a major inﬂuence on the development of Western moral thinking.Kant sought a simple maxim based on reason or rationality that would provide a rule for a general duty that would override all others.He suggested the categorical imperative as a universally valid ethical law.The categorical imperative is as follows: Act as if the principle from which you act were to become through your will a universal law of nature.Thus,to decide whether a contemplated action is ethical,the categorical imperative must be applied to that action.For example,a person who is about to break a promise must ask 'Would I desire a law that says that everybody may break promises if they so choose?' If the answer is 'no',then the proposed action is unethical.Kant intended that the categorical imperative would be an unconditional ethical command that would be valid regardless of the circumstances or the consequences.The categorical imperative is a philosophical formulation of the Christian Golden Rule: 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.' As well as the categorical imperative,Kant proposed a second maxim,designed to establish the worth of the individual: Act so that you treat humanity whether in your own person or in that of another,always as an end and never as a means only.This maxim requires that people should not be 'used' to achieve an end no matter how worthy that end may appear to be.The end does not justify the means.Northcott illustrates the application of this maxim as follows: to persuade someone to provide a loan of money with the intention of not repaying the loan is both deception and an example of not treating the potential lender with the respect that he or she requires.If the potential borrower reveals that he or she may not be able to repay the loan,the lender can decide whether or not to make the loan.In this case,the borrower has shown a duty of respect for the lender.3 Kant argued that applying these maxims to every proposed behaviour would lead to ethical behaviour.SOCIAL CONTRACT THEORY: The ﬁnal class of deontological theories that we consider is the social contract view of ethics.This class of normative ethical theories assumes there is a social contract between the individual and the state that requires both to perform certain duties and gives to both certain rights.A 'social' contract is an unwritten agreement based on custom and accepted without dissent.Failure to perform the duties implied by the social contract would be unethical behaviour.The notion of a social contract comes from Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679).In his book Leviathan (1651),Hobbes argued that humanity's natural aggression could be tempered if the individual could gain civil rights by entering into an agreement or a contract with others in which 'a man would be willing for the sake of peace,to lay down his natural right,and be content to limit his liberties to the extent that others are willing to curb theirs'.4 Later,the notion of a social contract between individuals was extended to include the state.Individuals gave up some liberties in exchange for the state's protection and the provision of more security than would otherwise be the case.Johnstone suggested that 'remnants of this crude contractarian approach' remain.For example: by observing the road rules,one surrenders certain personal liberties in the hope of receiving safe road-driving conditions in return.5 This crude contractarian philosophy is also evident in society's attitude to the professions: if society wishes to receive well organised and skilful professional services,it must be prepared to relinquish a certain degree of autonomy and grant professionals special privileges of autonomy and power in return.In exchange for these privileges,professionals perform certain tasks and carry out certain duties that would not be expected of them were they acting as 'ordinary' persons.

Briefly Describe Three Classes of Deontological Theories That Have Been

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