Ethics Finder

Deontology / Duty

Deontological ethics, or ‘ethics of duty’ are based on the idea that certain kinds of actions are morally prohibited, permitted, or required on account of their very nature independently of the motives of agents performing them, or of their consequences. Thus, if lying is wrong and thereby there is a duty not to lie that is not morally changed either by being done with good intention or producing beneficial effects. What makes a kind of action right or wrong is a matter over which some deontologists differ. For some, the idea is that wrong actions are irrational and somehow self-defeating, for example lying undermines one of the primary purposes of language which to express and communicate belief. For others, actions are right or wrong depending on whether they respect or disrespect human dignity. In some ethical approaches, such as that of Aquinas, deontological considerations form one dimension of moral assessment, with issues of motivation and outcome forming others.

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