Ethics, Morality, and Deontology: Key Concepts
Ethical Challenges to Established Society
Ethical challenges question established societal moral judgments relating to actions or decisions. These judgments often use terms such as “good,” “bad,” “right,” or “incorrect.” Ethics is a philosophical discipline that aims to evaluate these judgments, particularly when distinguishing between good and evil.
From an etymological point of view, “ethics” derives from “ethos,” which has a double meaning:
- “Residence, dwelling, or place where one lives.” Morality is part of concrete life, dealing with the real practices of people expressed through customs, habits, and accepted values.
- “Country or homeland.” In this meaning, Aristotle applies it to how a person places themselves within the world. Thus, ethos would be the root of all human actions.
Morality refers to a set of customs, beliefs, values, and norms of an individual or social group that affect our behavior. It guides us about good or evil, and the rightness or wrongness of an action.
Differences Between Ethics and Morality
- A moral code refers to the prohibitions and requirements accepted by a social group or a moralist.
- Philosophical ethics analyzes the principles that form the basis of that code of conduct, which constitutes morality. Morality is concrete; it dictates what should be done. Ethics is an abstract reflection on human behavior, classifying it in terms of goodness or badness.
We can distinguish between “lived morality” (enjoyed in everyday life) and “reflective ethics” (the reflection thinkers make on morality).
Deontological Ethics
Deontological ethics are ethical theories based on duty. Their best formulation is found in the two works of Immanuel Kant. Kant began with a critique of previous ethical systems, which he considered “material models of ethics” (focused on content like happiness, pleasure, or utility). In contrast, Kant proposed a new alternative system: “formal ethics.” This system is empty of content and autonomous because the subject creates moral norms for themselves and others.
Kant distinguishes between three types of actions:
- Actions contrary to duty: Immoral actions.
- Actions in accordance with duty: Good actions, but pro-moral because they are motivated by personal interests or purposes other than pure duty.
- Actions from duty: The only truly moral actions, because their realization is determined solely by respect for duty.
The morality of an action always lies in the will, that is, in the principle of wanting. Kant makes human freedom a condition for individual morality. When a man acts deliberately, he is responsible for his actions. Human acts freely chosen after a judgment of conscience are morally good or bad.
A postulate is an unprovable principle but a necessary condition of morality itself. The postulates of practical reason are:
- Freedom: A condition for the existence of morality; without freedom, the rational subject would act automatically.
- Immortality: A condition for the virtuous man to be happy.
- God: Must exist as a righteous judge to ensure the attainment of fullness, the perfect union of virtue and happiness.