A634.2.4.RB - Theories of Ethics

In Chapter 2, LaFollette (2007) discusses Consequentialism and Deontology. Discuss your thoughts on these two theories.

Consequentialists claim as cited by LaFollette (2009) “that we are morally obligated to act in ways that produce the best consequences” (p.23), "the ends justify the means."  The term consequentialism on its own appears to be a perfect theory for the business community.  I am not sure if this is as welcomed when it comes to personal decisions.  In the past, I have often had to make decisions that met the needs of the highest number of people involved when it came to the needs of the organization.  In its simplest form, I would call this majority rules.  For example, if a group of people were deciding on what type of new safety boots they wanted, I would say that the majority vote rules because then the largest number of people are being satisfied.  Now, this is not always the best way to address certain situations.  Sometimes, the needs of the business may outweigh the needs of the individuals.  In week one of this course, we were presented with an ethical dilemma – The Train Dilemma.  For this scenario, the case presented a train that was hurtling down the track and on the track are five children.  However if you decided to throw the switch and reroute the train, it more than likely kill an old man on the other track.  Form a consequentialist perspective, the choice would be the pull the switch and save the five children; thus causing the death of the elderly man.  In this situation, the action would be morally correct because if it produces more overall good than any alternative action; i.e. an act of consequentialism.

Formed from the work of Immanuel Kant (paradigmatic philosopher), deontological ethics followers feel that there are strict moral limits on what we can do to others, the ends never justify the means.  Those who follow deontological ethics believe that ethics determines the correctness of a moral action by determining if it follows moral norms.  My question is how do you define what is a moral norm and what is not a moral norm?  Contrary to consequentialism, duty-based ethics is not interested in the results and it can lead to courses of action that produce a reduction in the overall happiness of the majority.  To me, deontologists have the thought process of looking beyond the surface of actions.  I have seen from a business perspective where leaders who use this type of philosophy, often make profit based decisions.  The problem is with this adoption of deontological ethics things such as employee morale is often overlooked and undervalued. 
Deontology and consequentialism differ because deontology deals with morals, regardless of whether or not the outcome is favorable, whereas consequentialism seeks to satisfy the most people and allows them to define the morality of the situation.  When I first retired from the military, I had to learn a totally new environment as a retail store manager (name withheld because it was not a good experience).  I soon found that retail managers operate on what they believe is right because standard operating procedures were very ambiguous at best.  Even though the store had a posted merchandise return policy, some managers would choose to honor the policy or to make exceptions, depending on the circumstances of a particular return.  Managers with strong deontological ethics would typically follow the policy to the letter with very few exceptions.  I soon learned that this type of manager viewed upholding policy as vital to their job.  On the other hand, the managers who adopted the consequentialists viewpoint (people who favor evaluating the outcome of an act rather than the act itself) -- may be more willing to grant exceptions to keep customers happy.  I often experienced this, I would often use the consequentialists view and found the person would spend even more money in the store.  I never gave consideration to my action when it came to either deontology or consequentialism, but I now have a totally different perspective toward my actions that may be viewed as ethically based. 

 

La Follette, H. (2009). The Practice of Ethics. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing

Gillikin, J. & Media D. (n.d.), Workplace Example of Duty Based Ethics, Retrieved from

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/workplace-example-duty-based-ethics-11972.html