Ethics: Deontology and Utilitarianism

Ethics: Deontology and Utilitarianism
Name
Tutor’s Name
Institution
Ethics: Deontology and Utilitarianism
Introduction
Ethics are the right doctrines that mainly govern the behavior of an individual or how an action should be conducted. This is a branch of knowledge that widely deals with moral principles (Ahmad, 2018). In the study of ethics, many topics and questions may arise in trying to understand the study. Two such issues entail the fields of deontology and utilitarianism. These two are very wide fields that extensively try to make one understand the idea of ethics. In trying to understand the field of ethics, consider the following case study: A friend of mine tells me something that is very embarrassing and should be confidential. During the end year’s party, I decided to spill out the secret in seeking attention, thus causing him much pain. The above situation ought to be analyzed according to the deontological and utilitarianism theories. This seeks to justify or not my actions.
Deontology
Deontology, otherwise referred to as Deontological Ethics is a view of Ethics that focuses on the appropriateness or wrongness of an action rather than the virtuousness or wickedness of the consequences of the actions (Sarkar, 2018). In the view of a deontologist, therefore, a situation is considered to be right, depending on the on whether the situation that led to the action was right or wrong. Unlike a consequentialist, a deontologist will not care whether or not the situation will result in positive or negative consequences. According to the German Philosopher, Immanuel Kant, who was a renowned champion for deontology, it does not matter whether an action may lead to massive destruction, but as long as it is right, it then should be done. Kant also argues that whether the action may save many or bring great success, it should not be done if it is not right (Sarkar, 2018).
Take my case for example. My friend tells me something embarrassing. It is common knowledge that during any social gathering, everyone tries to make a name for them. Many reasons define my exposing of the secret. The answer to my rightness or wrongness of exposing the secret, according to the deontological theory, is ambiguous. There are so many factors that do inform my decision to sell out my friend. The major factor is the fact that I need to impress the revelers. This is very common to anyone attending any party.
As seen ab...