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Ethical Theories: Was Founded by Immanuel Kant. He Was Bothered by The Utilitarian

Ethical theory consists of two main approaches: utilitarianism and ethical formalism. Utilitarianism holds that the morally right action is one that maximizes happiness and pleasure for the greatest number of people. It is a prospective approach focused on anticipated consequences. Ethical formalism believes in universal moral principles and rules that are independent of personal desires. It is a retrospective approach seeking consistency with past behaviors and precedents regardless of consequences. Both have strengths in providing frameworks for ethical decision making but also have weaknesses like ignoring individual differences or consequences.

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Jelah Beniez Pantaleon
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72 views2 pages

Ethical Theories: Was Founded by Immanuel Kant. He Was Bothered by The Utilitarian

Ethical theory consists of two main approaches: utilitarianism and ethical formalism. Utilitarianism holds that the morally right action is one that maximizes happiness and pleasure for the greatest number of people. It is a prospective approach focused on anticipated consequences. Ethical formalism believes in universal moral principles and rules that are independent of personal desires. It is a retrospective approach seeking consistency with past behaviors and precedents regardless of consequences. Both have strengths in providing frameworks for ethical decision making but also have weaknesses like ignoring individual differences or consequences.

Uploaded by

Jelah Beniez Pantaleon
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Code ET_M2L2 Ethical Theories

Ethical theory is the systematic study of procedures for deciding on the right course of action in
any given situation. Ethical theory is not unitary; it is most often described as consisting of two- and
sometimes three or more – ways of making decisions about ethical issues. Traditionally, the dominant
perspectives are utilitarianism and formalism. The basis of utilitarianism is the idea that which is right is
that which brings about the best overall results – a very simple idea that becomes very complex in
practice. Formalism, by contrast, is much harder to define. Basically, it consists of selecting the right
course of action on the basis of that which most closely conforms to impartial rules or principles of
action, thus, ethics is simultaneously concerned with rules and results.

Two (2) Sides to Ethical Theory

Ethical theory basically consists of two approaches to decision making: Utilitarianism and Ethical
Formalism.

A. Utilitarianism was first formulated by Jeremy Bentham. It rests upon three (3) main
assumptions:
1. Decisions should achieve the greatest good for the greatest number.
2. Goodness is defined in terms of pain and pleasure.
3. Pains and pleasures are quantifiable and comparable phenomena.

The strengths of utilitarian thinking include its liberality (i.e. all persons’ preferences are equally
important) and its ability to describe much of what we do when we make decisions.

The weaknesses of Utilitarianism include:

a. The problem of justice – achieving the greatest good for the greatest number does
not necessarily mean that everyone is treated well; the best overall results are
compatible with the worst possible results for some individual.
b. The bias in favor of quantifiable criteria – some factors are harder to measure and
compare than others.
c. The encouraging of preference manipulation – the greatest good for the greatest
number can be achieved by strengthening needs and wants; that is through
successful advertising, we can be persuaded to think that some alternative (or
product) is more satisfying than we may have originally thought.

Simply stated, Utilitarian thinking is prospective because obtaining good results requires the anticipation
of likely consequences for each alternative under consideration. Tradition, experience and previous
solutions are unimportant except for or rather as historical suggestions that may or may not be relevant
for solving current problems.

B. Ethical Formalism was founded by Immanuel Kant. He was bothered by the utilitarian
proposal that what is right may depend only on what people want. Instead, he believed that
people are able to make judgments independent of their own wants and desires. He called
this ability pure reason and described the process as searching for universal moral
principles.
The strengths of Formalism include:

a. A system of coherent, stable, shared understanding.


b. A description of much of what we do, especially in bureaucracies.

Its weaknesses include:

a. The tendency toward complexity


b. The tendency toward dogmatism
c. The tendency to ignore important individual differences

Simply stated, Ethical Formalism tend to be abstract and seeks general principles which forces them to
abstract from ethical situations. It seeks understanding. It is retrospective because it seeks precedent
and consistency with past behavior; regardless of future consequences.

(Source:Workplace Ethics by MBA de Jesus, 2001)

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