Some Basics

This approach is associated with Immanuel Kant. In its most basic form, it concerns itself with duties and/or rules of what is right or wrong in all (or at least most) cases. Deontology is often absolutist. For instance, lying is bad, and we must not lie. Consider this infamous example. Imagine that intruders came to your home, looking to kill your roommate. Even if he is home, your initial instinct would be to lie and say he is not home, no matter how annoying and messy he might be as a roommate. Yet, deontologists say that even in a case like this, you should avoid lying. The right thing to do would be to say "yes, he is home" and hope that he snuck out of the backdoor.

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This approach is more popularly referred to as utilitarianism, though utilitarianism is a sub-theory that belongs to the bigger category of consequentialism. In its most known form, consequentialism assesses the goodness of an action based on its (expected) consequence. The infamous trolley problem is closely related with this theory. Imagine that you are driving a trolley that's about to kill five workers tied to the rails. You notice that there is a lever, and if pulled, the trolley will switch tracks and kill only one worker that is tied to the rails on that track instead. This theory would want you to do seemingly exactly that.

Since both consequentialism and deontology concern themselves with actions, they have been considered to be rivals through the years.

This approach is the one that is associated with Ancient Greek Philosophers, specifically with Aristotle. In its most basic form, it emphasizes the development of moral character: the cultivation of virtuous traits and the avoidance of vice. In terms of applied ethics, a virtue ethicists would ask oneself “What would a virtuous person do?” or “Does this help in the cultivation of a virtuous character trait?”. This theory is meant to guide and assess the kind of person we are, and the kind of person we should be. Unlike the other two approaches that assesses actions, this approach assesses the person.